
Class IESLS2a_ 
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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



(preen JfunD JBooft 'Ho* 18a 

THE MAGNETISM OF 
THE BIBLE 



MALCOLM L. MacPHAIL, M. A., 

MINISTER, SCOTCH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, BOSTON, MASS. 



A PRIZE BOOK 



PHILADELPHIA 

AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION 

1816 Chestnut Street 

1909 






Copyright, 1909, by the American Sunday-School Union. 



©CI.A-^51720 



Co mp Wife 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 



This volume is issued by the American Sunday- 
School Union under the John C. Green Income 
Fund. The Fund was founded in 1877, by Robert 
Lenox Kennedy, on behalf of the residuary legatees 
of John C. Green, and with the cordial concurrence 
of Mrs. Green. Among other things, the gift pro- 
vides that one-sixth of the net interest and income 
of the Fund shall be set aside ; and whenever the 
same amounts to one thousand dollars the Union 
shall apply the sum " for the purpose of aiding in 
securing a Sunday-school literature of the highest 
order of merit." This may be done "either by 
procuring works upon a given subject germane to 
the objects of the Society, to be written or compiled 
by authors of established reputation and known 
ability, ... or by offering premiums for manuscripts 
suitable for publication by said Union, in accordance 
with the purposes and objects of its institution." 
The premium plan is to be followed at least once 
out of every three times. The Union is to control 
the copyright, reducing the price of the book in 
consideration thereof. The individual traits and 
responsibility of the author are retained by giving 
him large liberty respecting the literary form, style 
and treatment of the subject. 

This book, " The Magnetism of the Bible," digs in 
an old mine where new riches are always to be found. 
That it won a first prize in competition with many 
worthy and scholarly works indicates its freshness 
and merit. It presents a store of information and 
thought which fully justifies its title, making it 
worthy of the attention of thoughtful readers. 

October, 1909. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Preface , , 9 

CHAPTER I. 
Mighty Influence on the World 11 

CHAPTER II. 
Among the Sacred Books 31 

CHAPTER III. 
Diversified Unity. 54 

CHAPTER IV. 
Choicest Literature . . ^ 72 

CHAPTER V. 
Treasures for the Intellect 100 

CHAPTER VI. 
Peerless Moral Guidance 118 

CHAPTER VII. 

Uniquely Expert Spiritual Teachings 135 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Reasonable Supernaturalism 153 

CHAPTER IX. 

Motive Power 172 

CHAPTER X. 
Comfort 196 

CHAPTER XI. 
Jesus Christ 216 

Index 237 

7 



PEEFACE. 

The aim of this book is to present the 
Bible in a way that may secure for it a 
fair consideration. An attempt is made to 
show the excellency, not so much of the 
features which are more or less superficial, 
as of those fundamental and eternal 
values, which, when seen by the intelligent 
and earnest, will grip them. This will 
explain why debatable grounds are not 
traversed, except where it seemed neces- 
sary, either to make clear that the critical 
questions pertained to things not belong- 
ing to the vital features, or to assure that 
the vital features are immune against criti- 
cism which destroys. 

"No one will be more conscious than my- 
self how imperfectly I have executed this 
design. The largest hope I harbor is, that 
there may be enough suggested on each 
subject to lead the readers to prosecute the 
study further for themselves. 

I have found very suggestive, in the 
preparation of some of the chapters, Far- 
9 



PREFACE. 

rar's The Bible j Its Meaning and Su- 
premacy, Storr's The Unity and the Ya- 
riety of the Bible, Moulton's The Literary 
Study of the Bible, and Halsey's The Lit- 
erary Attractions of the Bible. Acknowl- 
edgment of indebtedness to others will be 
' found in the body of the book. I have re- 
ceived, in the final revision, valuable ad- 
vice from the Editorial Committee of the 
American Sundav-School Union. 

I have not supposed that I have said 
anything essentially new. The forms in 
which the old is marshalled may have nov- 
elty sufficient, for a little while, to arrest 
the attention of some, and turn them Bible- 
ward. This is my sole purpose. 

Malcolm L, MacPhail. 
July 21, 1909. 



THE MAGNETISM OE THE BIBLE. 



CHAPTEE I. 

MIGHTY INFLUENCE ON THE WOELD. 

The human race may be regarded as a Inherent 
u 1 1 Mil 11 1 power, or 

* colossal man" who has passed through help? 

the stages of infancy, childhood, youth, and 
maturity because of inherent upward-pro- 
pelling powers ; or it may be looked upon as 
such a being who has passed through such 
stages because of help from without. The 
former view will not account for the stag- 
nancy of such nations as India and China, 
which were at the height of their suprem- 
acy when Odin and Thor were worshipped 
on the Saxon hills, and when the Druids 
burned their sacrifices in the groves of 
Britain. 'Nov will it explain the degener- 
ation of peoples in language, literature, art, 
science, virtue, national vigor and religion, 
when left to themselves, such as happened 
11 



12 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

to Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece and 
Home. The latter view takes account of 
and explains arrested development and de- 
cay. It attributes progress to Divine help. 
The high degree of civilization of the great 
nations of antiquity was attained through 
the powers from without supplied to man 
at the beginning. Their deterioration 
came through disusing or misusing those 
powers. 

Subsequent to God's primeval aid to 
man, mankind has been helped chiefly 
through Israel and Christianity. This 
help was originally that of personality 
alone. The Hebrew personality was pe- 
culiarly capable of a moral and spiritual 
bent. But that personality, bent by God, 
was increasingly influenced by the holy 
men who preceded it, and that through the 
vision of life which their writings brought. 
The divine help, issuing through Hebrew 
and Christian, we may rightly regard as 
being, in a large measure, the influence of 
these writings. 

In noting what that influence has been, 
it will be well to bear in mind that it has 
been exerted in spite of opposition. It 
will make the effect appear, as it is, all the 
more remarkable. The Bible has had to 



MIGHTY INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD. 13 

overcome the opposition of rulers like Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes, who lived one hundred 
and sixty years before Christ, and Diocle- 
tian, who lived three hundred years after ; 
the superstition of priests who burned its 
followers and cast them to the lions; the 
eloquence, learning, mockery, philosophy, 
sarcasm, sophistry, subtlety and vulgarity 
of men, who were either evil-doers or who 
lacked spiritual insight. Celsus, Porphyry, 
Hobbes, Hume, Gibbon, Voltaire, Chester- 
field, Ingersoll and many others have tried 
to discredit it or mar its influence. It has 
neither been weakened nor destroyed. 
" The grass withereth, and the flower f all- 
eth: but the word of the Lord abideth 
for ever.^^ ^ 



I. Its Beligious Influence. 

Upon the individual who reads the ^P°?.*^? 
Bible, studies it properly, and listens to ual. 
its interpretation and appeal, the effect is 
revolutionary. From it he will acquire 
the true knowledge of God, faith, repent- 
ance, the spiritual attainments of rever- 
ence, loyalty, co-operation with God, trust, 
joy, fortitude, hope and others. Carlyle 

» See H. Tullidge, Triumphs of the Bible^ pp. 14, 57-62, 



14 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

said that it was " the one Book wherein 
for thousands of years, the spirit of man 
has found light and nourishment, and a re- 
sponse to whatever was deepest in the 
heart" Matthew Arnold said, '' The 
Bible has such power for teaching right- 
eousness that even to those who come to it 
with all sorts of false notions about the 
God of the Bible, it yet teaches righteous- 
ness, and fills them with the love of it; 
how much more those who come to it with 
a true notion about the God of the Bible ! " 
'And its mighty, religious influence Buckle 
was constrained to acknowledge when he 
spoke of the " truths which comfort the 
mind of man, raise him above the instincts 
of the hour, and infuse into him those lofty 
aspirations, which, revealing to him his 
own immortality are the measure and 
symptom of a future life." 

This influence upon individuals began 
in the home of the Hebrews and spread 
over the earth with remarkable velocity. 
Eastward into India with her philosophies ; 
southward among the wild tribes of Arabia, 
;and into the midst of Alexandrian learn- 
ing in Egypt; northward and westward 
across the Mediterranean into the polished 
centers of Greece, into lordly Rome and 



MIGHTY INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD. 15 

Carthage, farther off into the wild regions 
of Spain, Gaul and Britain, into Gothic 
lands and the inclement Russian fastnesses, 
and later to the newly discovered lands of 
America and Australia. Wider still has 
the Bible influence been spread in more 
modern times. China is listening to the 
Word; Japan, Siam and Korea have 
opened their door to the apostles; the 
South Sea islands through it have forsaken 
cannibalism, and it is equally sought by 
the American Indian and the Bushman of 
Africa.^ 

The Bible^s religious influence on the na- National 
tions, in all spheres of the people's activity, ence." 
is a consequent of the influence upon the 
individual. J. H. Green, speaking of the 
giving of the English Bible to the people, 
says, " The effect of the Bible in this way 
was simply amazing. The whole temper 
of the nation was changed. A new con- 
ception of life and man superseded the old. 
A new moral and religious impulse spread 
through every class.'' What was true of 
England has been true of all lands where 
the Bible has gone, in so far as its benign 
rays have been allowed to penetrate. 

1 See Tullidge, op. cit, pp., 23, 24. 



16 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Morality 
in other 
books. 



Pagan 
society 
immoral. 



II. Its Moral Influence. 

The morality of the Bible is religious, 
yet the Book has a moral influence apart 
from its religious influence. The influ- 
ence of the books of all the great religions 
has been very wide. There have been many 
individual moralists whose teachings were 
influential. In many or all of those books 
there are truths which have floated down 
from the beginning, on the wings of tradi- 
tion and conscience, and their influence 
has been beneficent. But in all the pagan 
religious books these primal truths are 
overshadowed. In Mohammedan morals 
the sensuous predominates; in Brahmin 
and Buddhist the ascetic; in Chinese the 
naturalistic. The Greeks based their mor- 
als on intelligence and knowledge. The 
morality of materalists and positivists is 
at best only utilitarian. 

To see in its full extent the moral in- 
fluence effected by the Bible, we need but 
recall the conditions existing in certain 
lands before the Bible entered them, or be- 
fore its teachings got full sway. Rulers 
were tyrannical, cruel, unjust, aggressive, 
oppressive, capricious, and jealous. Under 
their rule the wealthy, famous and virtu- 
ous were in constant peril. Only the poor, 



MIGHTY INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD. 17 

infamous and vicious were safe. Justice 
was without equity. There was partiality 
and lack of proportion in administering 
punishment. " Wager of battle " and tor- 
ture frequently determined guilt. Might 
and trickery often made right. Human 
life was not regarded as of essential worth. 
Human sacrifices were often part of re- 
ligious worship. The weak and aged were 
allowed to die from starvation and ex- 
posure, and this was approved even by Aris- 
totle, Plato, Seneca and Cicero, and or- 
dered by Lycurgus. The body was not 
looked upon as the " temple of the Spirit/' 
but was given up to sins unknown in Chris- 
tian countries to-day. The family was an 
empty name. " Free marr'iage,'' divorce 
and concubinage were the rule. Brother- 
hood was practically unknown. Slavery 
existed everywhere. Private wars, feuds 
and duels were always going on. Gladia- 
torial shows, especially in Rome, showed 
the absence of the conception of human 
unity. There was no sympathy for the 
poor, sick, imprisoned and unfortunate of 
any kind. Dr. Harris in his '' Great Com- 
mission,'' speaking of Christianity, says, 
'' Her coming found the heathen world 
without a house of mercy." 



18 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Christian 
society 
moral. 



The Bible 
the 
source. 



The Christian civilization of to-day has 
all this changed. It has in it the concep- 
tion of righteous authority; justice; de- 
mocracy; the sacredness of life, whether 
of man, woman or child; a pure home, 
wherein love dwelleth; the principles of 
the Second Mile and the Golden Eule. It 
lives out these ideas, as is evidenced by the 
reproofs given to immorality; and by 
the initiation and inspiration of reforms 
in the conduct of individuals, in all their 
relationships, and in that of combinations, 
public institutions and governments, in all 
their transactions and attitudes.^ 

The Bible has been the means of the 
change. It gives exhaustive moral general- 
izations, definite and concrete laws of ac- 
tion, the motives and hidden springs of 
action. There is more true morality taught 
and incomparably more good derived from 
even one of PauFs Epistles than all the 
books of pagan religions. The great proph- 
ets of Christendom, through whose in- 
spirations reforms have come, are but re- 
peaters of Amos and Micah. The Puri- 
tan influence has come to us from men and 
women who tried to live again the order, 
pure liberty, righteousness and truth laid 

1 See Brace, Gesta Christy for full discussion. 



MIGHTY INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD. 19 

down by Moses. The teachers of society 
drink their insight, force and breadth from 
prophet, apostle and Lord. Buckle con- 
fesses that Christianity is a ^Wast and 
noble institution, by which the manners of 
men have been softened, their sufferings 
assuaged and their distresses relieved.'' 
And William Lloyd Garrison says, ^^ Take 
away the Bible from us and our warfare 
against intemperance and impurity and 
oppression and infidelity and crime is at 
an end. We have no authority to speak, 
we have no courage to act/' 

IIL Its Educational Influence. 

The educational influence of the Bible Extensive 
is more widely and thoroughly felt than tensive, 
that of any other book. There is no other 
book of which so many copies have been 
made, or are annually printed and distrib- 
uted. 'No book is printed in so many lan- 
guages, read so much, and known so well.^ 
None has entered so fundamentally into 
the thought and speech of the world. Men 
have got their figures of speech, proverbs, 
and household terms from it. 

General intelligence is more widespread 

* See Dr. E. W. Rice, Our Sixty-Six Sacred Books^ Chap. 

xm. 



20 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

among the people of the Christian world 
than among the inhabitants of pagan lands. 
Through Israel the world gained posses- 
sion of the truths concerning God, the Cre- 
ation, the World, Providence, Eighteons- 
ness, Duty, Judgment and Immortality. 
These truths are so noble, universal, far- 
reaching and sublime that the imagination, 
intellect and heart are laid hold of, ex- 
panded and disciplined. And it is not a 
tare statement of the truths which the 
Bible makes. It at times adorns them; at 
times enfolds them in a shell ; at times sug- 
gests them. It is full of allusions, incom- 
plete statements and implications which 
lead one into the study of history, geog- 
raphy, antiquities, law and theology, if one 
would understand its contents. There is 
hardly a verse but what suggests some- 
thing beyond itself. The commandments, 
the history, the natural science, the doc- 
trine, and the revelation, for example, are 
such as to excite inquiry. And the true 
method of investigation it has given, as well 
as the desire to investigate. It taught men 
to observe facts, and not to depend alone 
on abstract principles. " The road to true 
philosophy," says Bacon, " isi precisely the 
same with that which leads to true religion ; 



MIGHTY INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD. 21 

and from both one and the other, unless 
we would enter as little children, we must 
expect to be excluded.'^ The one idea 
found in the Bible we may well believe to 
have suggested the other. The father of 
the modern scientific method got his 
method in the Book.^ Because of the 
enlightening character of the Bible, the 
nations possessing it fully are inquiring 
and educated. 

That the Bible is the source of modern Illustrated 
enlightenment seems to be verified by the tory/^' 
facts. Where there is no Book there is 
the darkness of Africa and the Isles. 
Where commercial relations of Christian 
countries have come with pagan countries, 
those dark lands have improved. Higher 
than paganism is Islamism ; it has some of 
the Bible. Higher still is Romanism; it 
has some instruction from the whole Bible. 
Highest of all is Protestantism ; it has the 
•Bible in the hands of all the people. The 
civilization of the countries of Europe has 
kept step with their grasp of the Scriptures. 

The history of Spain and Scotland will 
illustrate this. Why is it that to-day there 
is scarcely a country so poor as to do Spain 

* See Tullidge, Triumphs of the Bibley pp. 53-57, and J. S. 
Hart, The Bible as an Educating Power Among the Nations^ 
pp. 13-63. 



22 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

reverence, and none so advanced as not to 
honor Scotland, with her unsurpassed list 
of names in every department of knowl- 
edge? It may be urged that the tardy 
progress of the former has been due to 
false economic conditions, a bad system of 
land-ownership, and the consequent unpro- 
gressive industrial conditions and poverty 
of the people. The lack of a strong na- 
tional spirit, and the temperament of the 
people may be put forth as additional rea- 
sons. Having given due weight to these 
causes, it does not seem unlikely that a 
more far-reaching one is Spain's failure to 
enjoy a blessing such as Scotland received, 
when in 1575 an edition of the Bible was 
published there, placed within reach of the 
common people, and never closed to them. 
The probability of this is borne out by 
the similar contrast between the other 
Protestant countries of Europe, such as 
England, Germany and Holland, and Eom- 
ish countries like Portugal, Austria and 
Italy ; or between the Protestant countries 
of America, — the United States and Can- 
ada, and their Papal neighbors, — Mexico, 
Brazil, Venezuela, etc. Any approaching 
enlightenment in those backward countries 
may be traced to the influence of the Bible, 



MIGHTY INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD. 23 

as in Italy it may be traced to the work of 
the Waldenses in spreading the Word.^ 

In Japan and other pagan countries the 
enlightenment has come from contact withi 
Christian lands. In making an address 
on " The Awakening of China '^ in New 
York on May 5, 1908, Wu Ting Fang, one 
of China's ablest and best-known states- 
men, said, '' Nor must I omit to mention 
the services of the missionary body, par- 
ticularly the American branch of it, whose 
indefatigable efforts in the establishment 
of educational institutions, and in the dif- 
fusion of literature of general knowledge 
formed a part of the leaven, which has 
leavened the whole empire of China/' 

This is the influence of the Bible; and 
as contact with it grows is that enlighten- 
ment being intensified. Truthfully did 
Lessing speak when he said, " The Scrip- 
tures for 1700 years have occupied the 
mind more than all books, have enlightened 
it more than all other books/' 



IV. Its Artistic Influence. 

The literature of the pagan world in- Greek or 
eludes Homer ; its architecture, the Parthe- 

1 See S. D. Brown, The Bible the Source of True CivilizO' 
tion^ pp. 8-*34. 



24 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

non; its sculpture, the Zeus of Phidias. 
To a large degree the art of the ancients 
has been the inspiration of the moderns. 
But our obligation to them may be empha- 
sized at the expense of the Scriptures, to 
which the civilized world is more indebted. 
The Renaissance was the rebirth of learn- 
ing and art. It followed the Crusaders' 
tours through classic lands. But it was 
coeval with the rise of Protestantism, when 
the Bible became a popular book. It was 
the Christian intellect, awakened by the 
study of the Scriptures, that produced the 
Renaissance. 
Literature. The Bible is the background of modern 
literature. The purity, wisdom, spirit, 
and weight which belong to the great 
writers have been drawn from it. It has 
taught writers the secret of vigor, origin- 
ality and influence. It has given suggest- 
ive examples of diction and composition. 
It has afforded models in the writing of 
history, poetry and story. It has been a 
fountain for poets more inspiring than any 
Grecian, Roman, ITorse or Celtic one. It 
has fixed languages. ' 

Evidence of this is seen in Spenser^ 
Bacon, Addison, Johnson, Dickens, Scott, 
Wordsworth, Ruskin, Browning and Ten- 



MIGHTY INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD. 25 

nyson. Daniel Webster once said, " If 
there be anything in my style or thought to 
be commended, the credit is due to my 
kind parents, in instilling into my mind 
an early love of the Scriptures.'' Hall 
Caine confesses that the plots of his great 
novels have been suggested by Bible stories. 
And what is true of his books is true of all 
other great modern books, in all Christian 
lands and in every field of literature. 
They are saturated v^ith the Book. They 
are its seed, sprung up in a variety of beau- 
tiful and worthy forms. 

What is true of literature is true also of ArcMtec- 
architecture, sculpture, painting and music, scxdp- 
The Bible created the cathedrals and *^^®' ®*^* 
their statuary, mosaics and paintings, 
' — the world's masterpieces. Biblical 
themes are the subjects of, and the spirit 
of the Bible breathes through, the world's 
great oratorios. The great architects like 
Brunelleschi and Giotto, and the guild- 
men who built the cathedrals, worked from 
the motive of piety. The great sculptors 
like Donatello and Michelangelo, and the 
great painters like Raphael and Correggio, 
took Bible figures for their models. The 
great music-composers like Bach and 
Haydn rose from their knees to carry out 



26 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

their work. The triumphs of the world^s 
architecture hear the name of the Apostles. 
The world's best sculpture presents inci- 
dents from Genesis and the Gospels. The 
greatest paintings are portraits of the Ma- 
donna and the Child. The world's music 
reaches its climax in the " Creation " and 
the ^^ Messiah.'' 

It is the Bible that has originated the 
added features of loveliness imposed upon 
nature. We see its hand of beauty where 
sterility once was. Its fruit is in the pal- 
ace with its adornments; in the public 
garden ; and in the stately ships. Euskin, 
before whom as an art critic the world 
bows, says, " Certainly, by consent of all, 
there has been thus far no art in the world 
like the Christian art." 

V. Its Influence in Affairs. 

labor. As nations were Christianized the men 

stopped pulling the plow, and the women 
ceased being the burden-bearers, while the 
horse and the ox were put to work. As 
civilization advanced, through a closer ob- 
servation of nature, and an increasing de- 
sire to save time, and with a growth of the 
humane spirit, man and beast were, to a 
great extent, supplanted by machinery* 



MIGHTY INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD. 37 

With the coining of a still higher state, the 
hours in which man must work are being 
shortened. 

This relief from toil is not a contempt 
for labor. The Book which has inspired 
it, to the contrary, condemns slothfulness 
and dignifies work. Its grandest figure is 
a Carpenter, and his followers are fisher- 
men. The disengagement from drudgery 
which it encourages, wherever it can be 
made, is in order to give opportunity for 
nobler work, and for the intellectual and 
moral well-being. Machines cause incon- 
venience to millions for a time, but in the 
end always bring them a blessing, in the 
form of more life-sparing kinds of work. 
The Bible works to make a way to build 
the man. It is the spirit behind the move- 
ment for better wages and for profit-shar- 
ing. 

Commerce has always followed in the Commerce, 
wake of Christianity. The Crusades gave 
an impetus to traffic. Modern missions are 
clearing the way for the manufacturer. 

As the touch of the new life is felt, the 
worth of self is apprehended. Comfort, 
culture and refinement make new wants. 
The Bible does not approve of the luxury 
which springs from depraved appetite, and 



28 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

which produces a traffic like that of ancient 
Rome. It increases the legitimate wants of 
all classes, increasing their means at the 
same time, and is therefore a greater 
friend of commerce than any ever pos- 
sessed by Rome. 

The Christian missionary is the world's 
pioneer. The knowledge we possess of the 
geography, customs and language of many 
lands we owe to the missionary. This 
knowledge is one of the most important 
assets of the merchant. 

The Bible develops man's love for the 
world and for mankind. It makes him 
long to visit the various countries of the 
earth, and know their history. It impels 
him to keep up acquaintances. It creates a 
desire to share in the products of different 
climes. Thus travel, the press, the tele- 
graph and postal systems, agriculture, 
manufacture, shipping, etc., are stimulated. 

ITot only has commerce been influenced 
as to quantity, but also as to character. It 
used to be the exploiting of the colony for 
the enrichment of the empire. Merchants 
and nations took advantage of the igno- 
rance and weakness of non-Christian peo- 
ples. The higher principles of morality de- 



MIGHTY INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD. 29 

mand that the ephah be full size, and that 

the traffic in rum and opium shall cease. 

As in the industrial and commercial af- ^^^ ^^^ 

govem- 

f airs of men the Bible has been such a pow- ment. 
erful influence, so also in their political 
affairs. Two thousand years before Magna 
Charta it defined the rights of the people 
and the powers of princes. It definitely 
announced at that early date the principles 
of the authority and fatherhood of God, 
the brotherhood of man, the worth of life ; 
all of which involved good government, 
liberty, equal privilege, constitutional law 
for the protection of property, freedom and 
life. It gives illustrations of the practical 
operation of many of these principles. ■*■ 

Modern jurisprudence has been influ- 
enced much by Attic and Roman laws ; but 
according to Grotius, the great authority 
on international law, these owe their origin 
to the laws of Moses. George Adam Smith 
makes a similar statement when he says, 
" The influence of Mosaic law on legisla- 
tion and public morals which began with 
Constantino and from his time to Justin- 
ian's, according to authorities like Gib- 
bon, purged social life and modified the law 
of the empire.'' ^ 

1 See W. Magrill, The Achievements of the Bible, pp. 8, 9. 
« Biblical World, vol. 8, p. 91. 



80 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

The laws of Moses have also influenced 
modern government directly. The v^riter 
just quoted, says that the young Christian 
nations had the example of the Jewish 
people before them leading them on in the 
struggle for freedom. " Stealthier than 
the growth of a forest," says De Quincey, 
" are the footsteps of Christianity amongst 
the political workings of man." Black- 
stone, in his Commentaries, says, " The 
Bible has always been regarded as part of 
the Common Law of England." And 
President Andrew Jackson on his death- 
bed, pointing to the Bible, said to his phy- 
sician, " That Book, sir^ is the Eock on 
which our Kepublic rests." 



CHAPTEE II. 

AMONG THE SACEED BOOKS. 

" ToLEEANCE '^ and " broad minded- Tolerance, 
ness '^ are words with which to conjure 
to-day. That man is considered by many 
brave and fair, who has courage to place 
other religions on a level with his own. 
The statements are often made that Christi- 
anity and other religions are essentially the 
same, the difference being in outward form 
or in standpoint; that other religions are 
as good for their followers as Christianity 
is for us; that it is wrong to try to force 
our religion on them, when their own are 
so sublime in their conceptions; that, in- 
deed, ours is scarcely superior, being 
largely derived from theirs. Our maga- 
zines often have articles which teach these 
ideas. Our clubs frequently have for star- 
speakers Hindus, or others, who inform us 
of these things. 

It is doubtless a fact that there' are 
many truths and laws in all the great relig* 
31 



82 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE, 

ions whicli are revelations from God. But 
it is likewise true, as we shall endeavor to 
show, that these revelations are markedly- 
less perfect than those of the Bible, and 
that they are mixed up with " so much 
that is not only unmeaning, artificial and 
silly, but even hideous and repellent.'^ ^ 
Religions Because of the influence of nation upon 
their nation through the modern facilities of 
books. travel, an influence which modifies the life, 
thought and practices of all nations, and 
especially because of the influence of the 
Bible on other religions, we shall not be 
able to compare the religions in their essen- 
tials so well by examining them, as we 
find them to-day, as we shall be by compar- 
ing their sacred books with the Bible. 

Within the limits of this chapter we 
shall be compelled, — and there would be 
little practical benefit from doing other- 
wise, — ^to confine ourselves to the books of 
the great religions now extant. 

I. Of Hinduism. 

The sacred books of the Hindus are the 
Vedas, the Shastras, the Puranas and the 
Tantras. This is the general order in 

* F. Max MuUer, The Sacred Boohs of the East, vol. I. p, 



AMONG THE SACRED BOOKS. 33 

which they were written ; and, read in this 
order, we can see the development of the 
religion. 

The Vedas are the most ancient, and TheVedas. 
contain the purest form, of the Hindu re- 
ligion. They contain an account of the 
Creation, of the Fall and Deluge. Crop- 
ping out frequently is the idea of one su- 
preme God; but, generally, the idea is 
pantheistic, and, as a result, the worship 
is a nature worship. Light, thunder, fire, 
rain, the vault of the heavens and many 
other aspects of nature are deified. They 
have many gods. One god is supreme ac- 
cording to one poet; another, to another. 
There is no image worship ; but worship at 
its best is a kind of barter, and at its low- 
est descends in the Atharva, or Brahma 
Veda, to imprecations, charms, talismans, 
and even a form of demon worship. 

The Shastras are the philosophical The 
books. They attempt to solve the problems 
of life and destiny, but fail. They have 
. many subtle and sublime utterances ; but 
contain a great mass of fanciful and puerile 
matter, and in many instances descend to 
the prurient. They teach transmigration 
of souls, annihilation and the absorption of 
the individual into the infinite. Some 



anas. 



34 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

ideas are theistic, some atheistic; but the 
general trend is pantheistic, and inculcates 
absolute idealism or the non-existence of 
matter. 
The Pur- ^\^q Puranas contain a rearranged Hin- 

' anas. ^ 

duism. They have an entirely new set of 
gods. !N'ow the gods are not the merely 
natural forces, but the active and potent 
abstract thoughts, principles and emotions. 
They have a Trimurti, or triad of gods, 
but they praise now one god and now an- 
other. Transmigration and caste, almost 
unknown in the Vedas, are here. Here 
also we have widow burning introduced. 
The idea of the incarnation of deity ap- 
pears. They tell us that the supreme god 
Vishnu has appeared on earth ten times. 
At one time he came as a fish, once as a 
boar, once as a tortoise. Eama and 
Krishna, great soldier heroes, they regard 
as incarnations of Vishnu, so also Gau- 
tama the founder of Buddhism. In the 
Puranas, Hinduism becomes eclectic. It 
is a selection from many different sources. 
It adapts itself to every religion and form 
of worship with which it comes into con- 
tact, from the local deities and nature- 
worship of the hill-tribes to the idea of 



AMONG THE SACRED BOOKS. 35 

mercy found in Buddhism. The Bhagavad- 
gita, a part of the great epic Mahabharata, 
contains the loftiest conceptions of later 
Hinduism. Some go so far as to say that 
it has the essentials of religion. It may 
have words similar to our Biblical terms, 
but they have a different use and meaning. 
It is fundamentally pantheistic and fatal- 
istic; teaches the absolute effacement of 
self; and final absorption into the infinite. 
It has nothing about salvation through 
divine atonement; of co-operation with 
God; of knowledge which touches the 
springs of life ; of grief and penitence for 
sin. 

In the Tantras the worship of the fe- The Tan- 
male principle is introduced. They run 
either into mysticism or licentiousness. 
Their worship cannot with decency be de- 
scribed. 

Taking Hinduism as a whole, and at its 
best, with its emphasis on the spiritual 
nature of all existence, it comes short when 
compared with the Bible. 

1. Its conception of God is that of a Compared 
cold, unconscious being without thought, ^^jj^ 
emotion or moral attribute of worth. He 
is neither a Father, a Eedeemer, nor a 



36 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

Comforter. He is neither Light, Love 
nor the Father of Spirits. He does not 
atone. 

2. Its conception of the soul is that of 
a temporary emanation from God, a reflec- 
tion like the moon's light. It has no 
capacity for fellowship with its source. 

3. Its conception of sin is that of cere- 
monial defilement, and nothing deeper. 
There is no deep conception of expiation, 
no idea of a great sacrifice for sin. There 
is no remonstrance against sin, no moral 
instruction or effort to encourage or estab- 
lish character, no idea of sanctification. 
The ethics of the book are below that of 
the people. The gods are immoral, almost 
without exception. 

4. Its conception of a future is fatalis- 
tic. The soul goes through 8,400,000 
transmigrations, and is finally annihilated 
or absorbed into deity. It has no resur- 
rection for the body, and no victory over 
death. 

5. In its conception of man it reaches 
its highest in the '' Code of Manu.'^ Here 
are equitable laws but there is no idea of 
brotherhood. Caste divides man from 
man. There is a low place given to 



AMONG THE SACRED BOOKS. 37 

women. The ignorant and the children 
are overlooked.^ 

11. Of Buddhism. 

Buddhism is powerful in Ceylon, Bur- 
mah, Siam, Anam, North Western India, 
Tibet, Nepal, Tartary, and large parts of 
China and Japan. 

We shall not examine the later develop- 
ments of Buddhism, which reveal the con- 
tact of the religion with other ideas which 
it absorbed. It shows this contact with 
the devil-worship of Ceylon and Burmah, 
the Taouism of China and the Shinto 
of Japan. The Mahayana, a Buddhistic 
treatise written in Sanscrit, contains many 
additions to the Buddhism of Buddha de- 
rived from without, for example, personal 
continuity after death, something akin to 
divine grace, the presence of the spirit of 
the Buddhas with men, " the infinite 
mercy," a supreme Buddha. We shall ex- 
amine the original Bible of Buddhism, the 
Tripitaka, written in Ceylon in 88 B. C, 
and containing the most primitive form of 
the religion. 

* This discussion of Hinduism is based chiefly on J. M. 
Mitchell's The Hindu Religion, and F. F. Ellinwood's. 
Oriental Religions and Christianity. 



38 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

Gospel nar- Qur task beinff a comparison of the 

ratives ... 

not from sacred books of Christianity and Bud- 
dhfsm. dhism, we shall not go into a detailed com- 
parison of the narratives concerning Jesus, 
and the legends of a similar nature, which 
sprung up at a comparatively late date, 
concerning Gautama, the founder of Bud- 
dhism. These legends affirm that his birth 
was heralded by angels, and was super- 
natural; that an aged sage blessed him; 
that he was taken to the temple for conse- 
cration; that a jealous ruler sought to de- 
stroy him; that in boyhood he astonished 
the doctors ; that he was baptized, tempted, 
transfigured and received up into heaven. 
'All that need be said here is that the nar- 
ratives in the Gospels were not copied from 
Buddhism. Christianity repelled Neo- 
platonism. Gnosticism and Manichseism 
in the early centuries. Why should it have 
gone out of its way to borrow Buddhism ? 
The attitude of the Jews towards all 
heathenism makes copying improbable. 
Moreover, if these narratives had been 
copied, the clever Celsus and Porphyry 
would have exposed the fact when they as- 
sailed Christianity. Kuenen says that 
there are no coincidences between these 
legends and the stories of Jesus. And 



AMONG THE SACBED BOOKS. 39 

Ehys Davids affirms, " I can find no evi- 
dence of any actual or direct communica- 
tion of these ideas common to Buddhism 
and Christianity from the East to the 
West.'^ If there was any copying done, 
it was done by the East. 

Buddhism arose in India in the seventh A protest 
century before Christ, as a protest of the B^alunin. 
strong personality of Gautama against the ism. 
Hindu Brahmans (priests), with all their 
priestcraft, sacrifices and caste-enforce- 
ment. " My law is a law of mercy for 
all/' he said. He taught that religion 
consists not in rites, but in duty ; and that 
duty is kindness to all creatures and things. 
But Gautama did not stop here ; he evolved 
a philosophy of life and destiny. 

1. His teachings may be summarized 
as follows: 

(1) Eour Great Truths, (a) There "Four 
is suffering everywhere, (b) The origin ir^tlis.*' 
of suffering is lust. Lust is connected 
with consciousness. Consciousness is from 
Karma. Karma is the moral retribution 
of the entire action of a man's past. 
(c) The extinction of suffering is by anni- 
hilation of lust, (d) The path to the ex- 
tinction of suffering is through right views, 



40 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

desires, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, 
mindfulness and rapture. 

"Four ^ (2) Four Stages in the Path of Salva- 
tion. (a) Conversion, which he looks upon 
as the getting rid of the illusion of self, or 
of the " delusion of the permanency and 
the importance of one's own individu- 
ality." (&) Destruction of the doubt that 
all is lost, when the delusion of the per- 
manence and importance of self are got rid 
of. {c) Struggle against lust, ill-will 
towards men, animals and gods, and dul- 
ness in receiving impressions from higher 
things ; and a breaking of the bonds of de- 
sire for the future life, of pride and self- 
righteousness, and of ignorance of the 
'' Four Great Truths." {d) Nirvana, the 
peace of self-effacement. 

2. In a comparison of this religious 
system with the Bible its many demerits 
appear. 

Ethics. (1) Its ethical teaching is the strong 

feature of Buddhism. It is a moral re- 
ligion, yet it has made no special contribu- 
tion to the moral principles of the world. 
Its principles are the common heritage of 
mankind. It is humanitarian, yet it is 
individualistic to the point of selfishness. 
Supreme thought and effort must be on 



AMONG THE SACRED BOOKS. 4,1 

one's own life^ it says. There is no hint 
of the principle of love to others. The 
moral law which was broken it regards as 
an impersonal law. It is a religion for 
the cultured alone. 

(2) In its spiritual teachings, so far as Spiritual 
it has any, it is a religion of works and ings." 
self-eflfort. There is no help from above, 

or heavenly incentive. There is no Sa- 
viour; Gautama saved only himself. The 
sense of evil is present, but without the 
conception of pardon, atonement and recon- 
ciliation. There is no Comforter. Its 
highest aim for self is to renounce the 
highest possibility into which man is 
capable of developing, and to descend into 
the passionless calm of vegetative exist- 
ence. This is not the self-surrender of the 
Christian, in which self -hood is at its best ; 
it is rather the extinction of self. The 
peace of Nirvana is not the Christian 
peace. 

(3) It has a gloomy view of the world its world, 
and of human life. It believes the world 

had no Creator. " A vast cycle of events, 
and not a will or cause, have produced the 
universe.'' The world is a world of sor- 
row. Misery is the estate of every indi- 
vidual, and there is no escape, life itself 



42 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



being a punishment by Fate for man's 
past state. The body, it thinks, should be 
despised and forsaken utterly, because it 
is a misfortune to have one. 

Its ftiture. (4) Gautama's system implies a fu- 
ture of some length, but he himself was 
reticent, and indeed agnostic on the subject. 
The future was in the hand of a cold and 
merciless Fate. Immortal life would be 
looked upon as a disaster. There is in his 
teachings no hope for the '^ house not made 
with hands,'' and the ^' general assembly 
of the first-born." 

No God. (5) Gautama condemns the idea of a 

personal God as the first cause and im- 
manent reality of all things. He has no 
God, no Lawgiver, no Father, no one who 
forgives, and no one to meet us in the dark 
valley. 

The whole religion is a bitter cry and a 
yearning. It is a groping in the dark; 
but nothing which has arrived at, or which 
can produce, confidence.^ 



The Zend- 
Avesta. 



III. Of Parseeism. 

The sacred book of the Parsees is the 
Zend-Avesta, composed for the most part 

* This discussion of Buddhism is based chiefly on 
Reynold's Buddhism^ Rhys David's Buddhism and Chris- 
tianity and EUinwood's Oriental Beligions and Christianity, 



AMONG THE SACRED BOOKS. 43 

between the fourth and seventh centuries 
before Christ. The crowning merit of this 
book is its eternal distinction between right 
and wrong. It has a supreme deity, Ahura 
Mazda. It has also an eternal evil spirit, 
Ahriman. These two are forever at war. 
Ahura Mazda has on his side a celestial 
group and also inferior heavenly beings, — 
genii who preside over fire, water, light, 
air, etc. Ahriman has about him a 
^' grisly council of hell." The whole cre^ 
ation is arbitrarily divided between the 
two camps. The stars are on Ahura 
Mazda's side. The planets are under 
Ahriman's banner. Even the animals take 
sides. The belief is that evil will be over- 
thrown; and that for the good there is a 
heaven awaiting, and for the wicked a hell. 

The merits of this religion are many, but 
it has connected with it disfiguring faults. 
The Bible has all its merits with none of 
its demerits. 

1. Its god hates evil, and possesses no Theism, 
immoral attributes. But he is a weak god. 
He is not the Creator of all things. Infe- 
rior divinities assist him, and he prays to 
them. There is no peculiar homage paid 
to him. He is honored only as every good 
object in the creation is honored. There is 



44 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

a mixture of monotheism, dualism and 
polytheism. It is defective in its repre- 
sentation of certain attributes of God, such 
as fatherhood, love and communion. In- 
tellectual shallov^ness marks its treatment 
of great problems, if it notices them at all. 

Worship. 2. There is no immorality nor cruelty 

attached to its worship. But it is defect- 
ive. It is excessive in that the whole of 
the good creation, both the objects and the 
genii who preside over them, are wor- 
shipped. It is ritualistic to the extreme. 
Each day has five prayer-periods, with dif- 
ferent prayers for each period. Each day 
is sacred to some divinity. Besides, there 
are many festal days, — new year, equinox, 
new moon, full moon, etc. It is formal. 
Prayers are little more than magical for- 
mulae or incantations, the sounds and not 
the sense being all important. It is indi- 
vidualistic. There is no common worship. 
ISTo '' Our Father '' is said. It is low in 
that offerings are presented to divinities 
because they need food, and are strength- 
ened by praise. It is also low in that many 
of its rites are either childish or disgusting. 

Ethics. 3. The Zend-Avesta divides human 

duty into three great parts — ^good 



AMONG THE SACRED BOOKS, 45 

thoughts, good words and good deeds. It 
inculcates truthfulness, kindness and char- 
ity ; assigns a position of respect to women ; 
allows no asceticism ; and encourages work. 
Activity against evil is urged. Eobbery, 
assault, sexual impurity and murder are 
denounced. But it teaches nothing about 
self-sacrifice and self-denial. There is 
laxity in its pronouncement on marriage, 
encouraging the union of those near of kin. 
It has no great example of holiness. 

4. It is defective in its conception of Sin. 
sin because it confounds moral and cere- 
monial impurity. It has no idea of irir 
iquity, hence no idea of self-reproach, peni- 
tence, atonement, expiation, purification 
and rapture of pardon. Ceremonial cleans- 
ing is the only kind it knows. There is 
unexpected estimates of the heinousness of 
sins. For example, murder is less heinous 
than carrying a dead body. Punishments 
are disproportionate to offences. Man- 
slaughter is punished with ninety stripes; 
, giving bad food to a dog with two hundred. 
Some extraordinary sins it considers un- 
pardonable.^ 

* This discussion of Parseeism is based chiefly on Mitchell's 
The Zend'Avesta, 



46 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

IV. Of Confucianism. 

Sacred The teachings of Confucius may be gath- 

ered from The Analects, Great Learning 
and The Doctrine of the Mean. These 
teachings were gathered up and published 
as a sacred edict by the second emperor of 
the present dynasty in 1670. In 1724 an 
amplification of this edict was published. 
Still later an exposition of the amplifica- 
tion was issued. 

More than Q^ ^j^^ surface, Confucianism is a 
a moral ^ 

system, merely moral system; but examined more 

closely, it has the marks of a religion. It 
emphasizes what it regards as the five regu- 
lar constituents of our moral nature, viz., 
the principles, attributes and faculties of 
benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wis- 
dom and sincerity. The Chinese Primer 
speaks of these in this manner, '' Affection 
between father and son; concord between 
husband and wife ; kindness on the part of 
the elder brother and deference on the part 
of the younger ; order between seniors and 
juniors; sincerity between friends and as- 
sociates.'^ These duties and relations are 
regarded by Confucius as the appointment 
of " Heaven,'' and hence their fulfilment 
is a religious act. It is in this indirect 
way that the element of worship appears. 



AMONG THE SACRED BOOKS. 47 

Confucius shrank from discussing ques- 
tions about the existence and operations of 
God in a direct way. The only direct wor- 
ship permitted was that of the sovereign, 
who, at the most, on two or three occasions 
each year worshipped the Supreme as the 
representative of the people. There is no 
incitement to love God. 

Under two heads the books of Confucian- 
ism can fairly be contrasted with the Bible. 

1. There is much to admire in their Morality, 
practical teachings. Confucius is to be 
praised for his promotion of morality. 
There is beauty in the devotion of chil- 

dren to parents which he inculcates; but 
the Bible in addition, teaches the duty of 
parents to children. Confucius states the 
Golden Eule, but negatively; and the mo- 
tive which he advances is that of justice 
and not of love. The Bible's ultimate mo- 
tive for conduct is the glory of God. The 
Bible gives a high place to women; Con- 
fucius permits concubinage. Confucius 
gives no example of holiness. He himself 
confesses many breaches of the moral law. 
He has an ideal for man, but offers no 
power by which to attain it. 

2. Their religion is defective in that it Eeligion. 
does not permit of direct access to God. 



48 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

It does not teach the nearness of God, nor 
the fact of divine help. There is no glow 
of piety and devotion in it. Keverence 
for the past is its central element. The 
ideal of character aimed at is short of per- 
fection. These books are w^ithout a pro- 
found sense of sin. They have no world 
vision of regeneration. They have no God 
suffering for, redeeming the world, tri- 
umphing over sin and death, and reigning 
forever.-*^ 



iV. Of Mohammedanism. 

The There are many excellencies in thie 

Koran. It teaches the existence of one God 
and is opposed to idolatry. It believes in 
the control of all things by Providence. 
Prayer is enjoined, temperance urged, 
tithing encouraged, and intoxication and 
chance forbidden. It professes to acknowl- 
edge previous revelations in Judaism and 
Christianity. It is grounded for the most 
part on the Old and N'ew Testaments, and 
has borrowed from them, all that is best 
m it 

The radical evils of the Koran's teaeh- 



*This discussion of Confucianism is based chiefly on 
Legge's Christianity and Confucianism Compared, 



AMONG THE SACRED BOOKS. 49 

ings are many, but they may be summed up 
a3 follows: 

1. The divorce of wives at pleasure is Eelation of 
,. 1 -n -I 1 -I . the sexes. 

sanctioned. Jrolygamy and concubmage 

are permitted, four wives at a time and 
any number of slave girls being allowed. 
Woman is depressed to an inferior posi- 
tion in all her social relations, and de- 
prived of most of her rights. 

2. Prayer must be offered at five stated WorsMp. 
times a day with the accompanying cere- 
mony of washing. Certain forms and pas- 
sages are to be repeated with prescribed 
prostrations and knee-bendings. This is 
obligatory in whatever state of mind the 
so-called worshipper may be. The whole 

is formal. Worship consists also in fast- 
ing. There is a month of severe fasting 
each year. Another obligation resting on 
the faithful, is the yearly pilgrimage to 
Mecca and Mount Arafat ; and this he is 
asked to make, it matters not in what part 
of the earth he may reside. This worship 
in all its parts is to be pushed with the 
sword. 

3. Freedom of thought and private Personal 
judgment are denied. The Koran has no ^® ^°^' 
conception of the fatherhood of God, grace, 
salvation from above and by atonement, 



50 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

nor adoption. Its god is a god of fate. 
He is the author of evil. All things are 
absolutely determined and there is no es- 
cape. It holds out the hope of a heaven 
for those whom Tate decrees shall inherit 
it ; but it is a demoralizing heaven. It in- 
spires the spirit of martyrdom by giving 
a vision of a " heaven opened and black- 
eyed maidens all bridally attired clasping 
thee in their fond embrace.'^ It nowhere 
teaches self-denial. It has rules instead of 
principles.^ 

" The religion of Christ contains whole 
fields of morality and whole realms of 
thought which are but outside the religion 
of Mohammed. It opens humility, purity 
of heart, forgiveness of injuries, sacrifice 
of self, to man's moral nature; it gives 
scope for toleration, development, bound- 
less progress to his mind ; its motive power 
is stronger even as a friend is better than a 
king, and love higher than obedience.^' ^ 

VI. Summary. 

The sym- From this brief survey of the ffreat re- 
pathetic . . . . 

view. ligions, one may be led to question, using 

1 This discussion of Mohammedanism is based chiefly on 
Muir's The Rise and Decline of Islam and Islam and ChriS' 
tianity, &nd EUinwood's Oriental Religions and Christianity. 

2 R. Bosworth Smith in an address before the Fellows of 
Zion College, Feb. 21, 1888, quoted by EUinwood, Oriental 
Religions and Christianity^ p. 218. 



AMONG THE SACRED BOOKS. 61 

the words of Max Miiller, " whether there 
is or whether there is not, hidden in every 
one of the sacred books, something that 
could lift up the human heart from this 
earth to a higher world, something that 
could make man feel the omnipresence of 
a higher power, something that could make 
him shrink from evil and incline to good, 
something to sustain him in the short jour- 
ney through life with its bright moments 
of happiness, and its long hours of terrible 
distress.'' ^ And if one find this '^ some- 
thing " it must not blind him to the truth. 
Quoting the same author again, " What we 
want here, as everywhere else, is the truth, 
and the whole truth ; and if the whole truth 
must be told, it is, that however radiant 
the dawn of religious thought, it is not 
without its dark clouds, its chilling colds, 
its noxious vapors." ^ 

The religion of the Bible is superior, in Simmiary. 
that it contains all the truths in those re- 
ligions put all together, with none of their 
error. In addition it has that which they 
all missed. It believes in the immanence 
of God with the Hindu ; in the supremacy 
of peace with the Buddhist ; in the eternal 

*The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I. pp. xzxyii, 
xxxviii. 
* Ibid. p. xi. 



52 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE, 

distinction between right and wrong with 
the Parsee; in the virtue of reverence for 
the past with the Chinese ; and in the One 
Supreme God with the Mohammedan. 

The Bible is free from the cold immoral 
view of the supreme god of the Hindu; 
the atheism of the Buddhist; the weak 
deity and the dualism of the Parsee; the 
unapproachable ^VHeaven " of Confucius; 
the fatalistic god of Mohammed. It has 
nothing of the plurality of gods of nearly 
all the other religions. Its God is a per- 
sonal spirit, " infinite, eternal, unchange- 
able, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, 
justice, goodness and truth. '^ He is 
Father. It has nothing of the idea of 
transmigration, found in Hinduism and 
Buddhism, or the idea of a controlling 
Pate common to Hinduism, Buddhism and 
Mohammedanism. 

The universe of which the Scriptures 
speak is under personal control. The 
future is immediate and conscious weal or 
woe. There is a conception of sin as 
inner defilement, which Hindu, Buddhist, 
Parsee, Chinese and Mohammedan have 
not. Here are the ideas of grace, divine 
atonement, merciful help, expiation, self- 
surrender which is the highest selfhood, 



AMONG THE SACRED BOOKS. 53 

peace which is supreme self-consciousness, 
and perfection, which none of them has. 
The hope of a resurrection and a future of 
blessedness such as none of them has are 
here. The Bible has Jesus Christ, 



CHAPTER III. 

DIVERSIFIED UNITY. 

Henry Ward Beecher once said, 
*^ Life loves variety ; God loves variety ; 
and men do, when they are alive." The 
Bible has infinite charm because of its 
variety. It is without monotony. Like 
nature, it " speaks a various language." 

I. It is a Library. 

The Bible is not a book in the ordinary 
sense of the word, but a library. Only 
since the thirteenth century has the name 
^' Bible " in the singular form been applied 
to it. Its character as a library was recog- 
nized by the early fathers and the theolog- 
ians of the middle ages. They refer to it 
as the " Books."^ It is composed of sixty- 
six separate books, thirty-nine in the Old 
Testament and twenty-seven in the ISTew. 
The cream ^ certain interest will be awakened 

?f ^,"^' when one considers that these books do not 
tion s lit- 
erature, constitute the entire literature of the Jews 

1 See Westcott, The Bible in the Church, p. 5, Rice, Our 
Sixty-Six Sacred Books, pp. 8, 9. 

54 



DIVERSIFIED UNITY. 55 

and of the Apostolic Church. This is the 
cream of their literature. There' are at 
least sixteen books quoted in the Old 
Testament, which are now lost. The titlesi 
of some of these are " The Book of Jar 
shar/^ ^^The Wars of Jehovah/' "The 
Book of the Words of Solomon/' "The 
Words of Nathan/' " The Words of Je- 
hu/' "The Words of Gad/' "The Vi- 
sions of Jedo/' and " The Prophecy of 
Ahijah." There are, besides these, many 
apocryphal books, for which claims have 
been made for a place with the books held 
sacred. It is also supposed that Solomon 
was the author of over a thousand songs, 
although but one or two are preserved. 

The New Testament, too, is but a por- 
tion of a quite extensive literature of the 
age of the apostles. It is known that there 
existed such writings as " The Gospel of 
Peter," "The Gospel to the Hebrews/' 
"The Gospel to the Egyptians/' "The 
Preaching of Peter/' "The Epistle of 
Barnabas," " The Teaching of the Apos- 
tles/' "The ^Shepherd' of Hermas/' 
" The First and Second Epistles of Clem- 
ent," and " The Apocalypse of Peter." 

The books to be held sacred were long l^eUber- 

ately ac- 

a subject of discussion and deliberation, cepted. 



66 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

The rights of such books as Esther, Euth, 
Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Ecclesias- 
tes and Ezekiel were questioned, although 
they had a place with the others from an 
early date. In Ecclesiasticus, which was 
probably written soon after 300 B. C, the 
books of the Old Testament are spoken of 
as a well known aggregate. And that ag- 
gregate is the one we have to-day.-^ Cer- 
tain books in the ITew Testament were 
likewise questioned for a time. These 
were Hebrews, James, II. Peter, II. and 
III. John, Jude and Kevelation. Yet 
the Old Testament, from the third cen- 
tury B. C. at the latest, and the ITew Test- 
ament, almost from the time of the apos- 
tles, have been regarded as a library of 
specially sacred books.^ And they are so 
regarded because of the respective dic- 
tation of both Jewish and Christian reason, 
conscience and common consciousness, guid- 
ed by the Holy Spirit. 
In three This library of books was written in 

gnages. three languages. Hebrew is the language 
of the greater portion of the Old Testa- 
ment. Parts of Ezra (4 : 8-6 : 18 ; 7 : 12- 
26,) and Daniel (2:4-7:28) were writ- 

* See W. J. Beech er, Old Testaw.ent Notes 190S, p. 89. 

' See Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible, " New TestamenW 



DIVERSIFIED UNITY. 57 

ten in Aramaic. Chronicles, Nehemiah, 
Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Jonah have an 
Aramaic coloring. The New Testament 
was written in Greek. 

Some of the books composing this library Snb- 
were themselves made np of separate books. 
Thus, for instance, the Book of Psalms 
has in it five collections of sacred poems, 
some as early or earlier than David, some 
as late or later than the Exile; and the 
Book of Proverbs consists of five col- 
lections. 

II. It is Comprehensive. 

The sixty-six books have a variety in 
their form and subject matter. 

1. Eorm. 

(1) Fully two thirds is made np of History. 
narrative, and this narrative is full of va- 
riety. It is composed of the history of cre- 
ation, early man, and the deluge ; the rise, 
progress, difficulties and decline of the 
Jewish nation; the contemporary history 
of the empire established, enlarged and 
overthrown; the mutual relations of these 
empires and Israel; the public affairs, 
plots, wars and disasters in the countries 
from Assyria to Egypt ; and the history of 
the founding of the Christian church, 



68 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

and its progress in the first fifty years. 
Wonderful history it all is, and history of 
inestimable value. It is wonderful both 
because of the events themselves which it 
narrates, and because of its selection of 
these events. An apparently trivial in- 
cident from an ordinary course of events 
is described at length, while a hundred 
generations are passed by in silence. It 
is valuable, not only because of the worth 
of the history itself ; but because it is based 
on tradition common to all men at the dawn 
of history, and preserves records of events 
transcribed in documents long since lost. 
The whole is very interesting. 
Biograpliy. It is a book of remarkable biography. 
ITo other personages that ever lived are so 
well known to the world as the men and 
women of the Bible. There exist nowhere 
such graphic delineations of character and 
such faithful portraiture of all classes of 
men. These personages are clothed with 
flesh and blood. The world is familiar 
with the great Chaldean nobleman Abra- 
ham, the mighty Egyptian general Moses, 
the faithful Samuel, the loving Euth, the 
religious David, the practical Solomon, 
the daring Elijah, Daniel the Exile, John 



DIVERSIFIED UNITY. 59 

the Patmos seer, Paul the missionary and 
the Man of Galilee. 

(2) Here is law too. The most basal Law. 
treatment of man's duty to man, to him- 
self, and to God is here commending itself 

to and commanding conscience. Moses in 
the laws he gave to Israel, whether he gave 
them new or merely restated ancient laws, 
laid down precepts which are fundamental 
concerning the whole round of duties, indi- 
vidual and social. The prophets empha- 
size these laws. Jesus gives the spiritual 
basis of duty. The apostles make practical 
application of their Master's principles. 

(3) There are books of poetry and Poetry, 
proverbs in the library. Job, Psalms, and^par- 
Proverbs, Solomon's Song and Lamenta- ables. 
tions are poetical. Poetry, proverb and 
parable are scattered through many of the 

books. The Creation and Flood stories, 
the song of Lamech, the blessing of Jacob, 
the blessing of Moses, the oracles of Ba- 
laam, the song at the crossing of the Red 
Sea, the song of Deborah, David's lament 
for Saul and Jonathan, and Solomon's 
words in dedicating the Temple are sam- 
ples of the Old Testament poetry scattered 
throughout the non-poetical books. Many 
passages in the prophetical books are in the 



60 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Argument 
and 
oratory. 



Threefold 
general 
division. 



form of poetry. In the New Testament, 
the "Magnificat" of Mary, the " Bene- 
dietns '^ of Zacharias and the " Nunc 
Dimittis " of Simeon in Luke are poetical. 
Proverbs and parables are in abundance 
everywhere^ the latter reaching their full 
effectiveness in the discourses of our Lord. 
No collection of books has such stately 
poetry, uttering the emotions of the uni- 
versal heart; such crisp condensations of 
truth, expressing the wisdom of God, and 
man's experiences; and such beatific im- 
agery, exhausting life and nature for anal- 
ogies. 

(4) Some of these books are in the 
form of argument and oratory. There are 
argumentative books like the Epistles to 
the Eomans, Galatians and Hebrews; ora- 
torical books like Isaiah, Amos and Joel. 
Argument and oratory are scattered 
through many of the books. " Come, let 
us reason together,'^ is a principle on which 
many of the books are written. Paul on 
Mars' Hill is one of many familiar figures. 
The unanswerable argument, the impas- 
sioned denunciation and the wise admon- 
ition of the Scriptures are without parallel. 

2. Subject Matter. 

The Old Testament Scriptures from early 



DIVERSIFIED UNITY. Ql 

days were spoken of as ^^ the Law, the 
Prophets and the Writings." In the New 
Testament there is a corresponding three- 
fold classification into Historical, Doctri- 
nal and Practical, and Prophetical. 

In a general way we may say the sub- 
ject matter is confined to human character, 
moral instruction and spiritual truth. But 

in the treatment of these there is diversity. 

t/ 

All ima2:inable types of men are pic- Hii^an 

character 

tured. All secret motives, hidden tenden- varied, 
cies, undiscerned influences, low passions, 
lofty ambitions, all steps of degradation 
and all flights of attainment are brought to 
light Achan the embezzler, Balaam the 
prostitutor of talent, Samson the weak 
giant, Haman the malice bearer, Jonathan 
the friend, Nehemiah the conservator, 
Peter the denier and Judas the betrayer 
are samples of this character-analyzing 
power. The consummation of character- 
drawing which it gives is the sublime por- 
trait of the Incarnate Christ, — God in the 
flesh, the sympathizing Priend, the Great 
Physician, the Teacher, the crucified King, 
the perfect Sacrifice, the mighty Victor 
over death, the Lord of life, and blessed 
forever. 

There is an ever-advancing morality in 



62 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Moral 
teaching 
pro- 



Spiritual 
truth 
ad- 
vauced. 



the Bible. The books are the result of a 
progressive growth in man's grasp of God. 
Not that the earlier was untrue; but that 
it was partial — less full — when compared 
with the later. The earlier laws were per- 
fect for those generations, but they were 
temporary. They were not adapted for a 
more enlightened and complex civilization. 
^^ There was a time of ignorance/' says 
Farrar, " which God winked at in the 
Jewish as well as in the heathen world.'' 
Christ brought to perfection the laws stated 
by Moses for an earlier age. 

The development in the presentation of 
spiritual truth, and the many-sidedness of 
the appeal adapted to the diversities of 
human natures, make the Bible an in- 
terest-holding Book. To notice but a few 
features of this variety, we see how the Je- 
hovah — the Euler, Judge and God of bat- 
tles — of the Old Testament is the Heaven- 
ly Father of the N"ew. The conception of 
a deliverer of Israel gradually develops. 
He is first a man, a descendant of Abra- 
ham. At the last, he is called by Isaiah 
" Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, 
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." At 
the first, sacrifice is external, — ^the sacri- 
fice of beasts. At the last, it becomes a 



DIVERSIFIED UNITY. 63 

matter of life, — love and good deeds, 
" . . . . present your bodies a living sacri- 
fice, holy, acceptable unto God. . . ." (Ro- 
mans 12: 1). 

III. It has many Authors. 

The sixty-six books of the Bible are the From many 

, times, 

product of forty or more men, who lived at 

widely separated periods. A thousand 
years and more divide the first of them 
from the last. Moses lived at the time of 
the Exodus; David and Solomon at the 
crowning height of Jewish history; Amos 
when the Assyrian was knocking at the 
gates ; Ezekiel when by the waters of Bab- 
ylon they sat and wept; Matthew in the 
shadow of the Cross. In each writer there 
is a reflection of the time in which he lived. 

These books sprang from various soils. From 
The law came from the desert of Sinai; soils, 
many of the prophecies and '' writings '^ 
from Judea,. in and about Jerusalem; 
others of the prophecies from Egypt, As- 
syria, and Babylonia; the epistles of the 
New Testament from Greece, Asia Minor 
and Rome; and the Revelation of John 
from the isle of Patmos. ^Tom 

The conditions in which the authors ^^^J 

condi- 

were placed were as diversified as can tions. 



64 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Of many 
natures 
and occu- 
pations. 



well be imagined. Their rankj prosperity 
and times were seldom the same or alike. 
We see Moses in the midst of a horde of 
fleeing slaves ; David in the king's palace ; 
Isaiah in the degenerating civilization of 
the kingdoms of Judah and Israel ; Daniel 
in the midst of Babylon's idolatry; Ezra 
in the time of revival ; John in the Roman 
persecution. 

There are back of these books and coming 
out through them the different natures and 
occupations of their authors. Coursing 
through the pages we hear successively the 
voices of lawgiver, general, seer, king, 
prophet, poet, psalmist, peasant, chroni- 
cler, publican, physician, philosopher and 
fisherman. At one time it is the voice of 
entreaty ; at another it is the shout of exul- 
tation ; and next it is the cry of penitence. 
N"ow it is the tense note of argument or 
denunciation; and then again it is the 
hushed breathings of rest, praise and rev- 
ery. We have here the mysticism and the 
profound spiritual experience of David or 
John; there the dialectics and enthusiasm 
of Paul ; and yonder the practical word of 
James or Peter. Turn the page and it is 
Job or Ecclesiastes grappling! with the 
great problems of the world; Jeremiah in 



DIVERSIFIED UNITY. 65 

a melancholy mood; or Habakkuk with 
his conquering faith defying doubt and des- 
tiny. 

Thus we have the imprint of different 
minds and natures under unlike conditions, 
not only upon the same subject, but upon 
different subjects. Men, severed as far as 
possible from each other by intellectual 
culture, temperament and literary style, 
picture man and present the moral and 
spiritual themes of the Bible, l^o wonder 
the Bible is saved from monotony, and 
gives truth with so remarkable a balance 
and so cumulative an effect. 

IV. It is for All Men. 

The Bible, being so comprehensive in its 
statement of what moral jand spiritual 
states are approved by God in every im- 
aginable circumstance in which every sort 
of person imaginable could be placed, is 
therefore a book of inestimable value to 
men and women in every nation, time, 
clime, and condition. It gives expert guid- 
ance for all. It is the universal key to 
conduct. 

The Book appeals to people in every in every 
mood, and not to the intellectual mind °^°° * 
alone, neither to the imaginative or the 



66 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

poetical alone. Its appeal is to these. 
It is also and equally to the sympathetic, 
the emotional and the practical. It is 
suitable for the cheerful; it is equally 
adapted for the downcast. 

In every The appeal reaches people of every age 

stance. and in every condition. It is equally at- 
tractive to the childj the youth, the mature 
and the aged. It is for the strong and the 
weak, hale and sick, traveler and home 
man, the man on the calm wave or the one 
on the boisterous billow. The mother in 
the Arctic hut or beneath the Southern 
Cross lulls her babe to sleep with its lyrics. 
The sailor leaning over the rail in the In- 
dian Ocean, and the soldier on the Trans- 
vaal battlefield, read it at night by the light 
of moon or campfire. The owner of the 
palace and the red man in his wigwam 
alike adore its depths. The man beginning 
his career and the worn-out patriarch on his 
death-bed equally prize its blessed page. 
There are the finger-posts pointing to the 
wells of comfort and consolation, the green 
pastures and still waters^ the cities of 
refuge and the shadow of the Eock. 

Because of This is SO because of its truthfulness. 

J^g^g^ " It bears on its face evidence to its own 

truthfulness. There is no dilettanteism 



DIVERSIFIED UNITY. 67 

about it. It uses plain speech, straight- 
forward narration of facts, with utter in- 
difference to fastidiousness about words. 
It is honest in every particular. It calls a 
fig a fig and a spade a spade. It is truthful 
in its biography. It describes men as they 
really were. Even the worthies it does 
not hide in their iniquity. IToah's drunk- 
enness, Abraham's deceitfulness, Lot's 
worldliness, Jacob's fraud, Moses' hot- 
headedness, David's adultery, Elijah's ti- 
midity, Peter's disloyalty, are not white- 
washed. There is no unreality in any part 
of the Scriptures. Men's own experience 
testifies to its truthfulness. It is bold 
and confident in all its statements, and 
thus invites the inquiry and challenges the 
criticism of men. These bold statements 
at one time standing alone caused men to 
hesitate, especially when the statements 
seemed to be contradicted by secular his- 
tory. But now the Bible is being vindi- 
cated by the monuments, — by the Moabite 
stone discovered in 1868, the El-Amarna 
tablets discovered in 1887, and by recent 
discoveries in Egypt and Babylonia — and 
educated men hav^ the growing conviction 
that there is a good warrant for its bold- 
ness and confidence in all its assertions. 



behind 
it. 



68 ^^^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

Its truthfulness, self-evident, experienced 
and proven, causes tliena to come and listen. 



y. It is One Boole. 

With all its diversity the Bible does 
not hang loosely together. The library is 
one Book. 

One nation It has the unity which arises from the 
one nationality back of it and the chief 
history which it narrates. From Genesis 
to Revelation it first of all depicts God's 
dealings with Israel, both as a nation and 
as individuals. Israel's several privileges, 
several falls, several punishments and sev- 
eral restorations make up the body of the 
Book. 

Emphasis There is from first to last a fixed sepa- 
themes ration of good from evil. Even though the 
early teaching may not be so full as the 
later there is no contradiction between 
them. Good and evil are always held 
apart. The good is ever esteemed highly 
and effort made to perpetuate it. Evil is 
ever rebuked and pimished. ISToah is res- 
cued from a wicked world, Abraham called 
to start a separate nation, Esau separated 
from Jacob, Jacob's descendants brought 
out of Egypt, Saul rejected for David, 



consis- 
tent. 



DIVERSIFIED UNITY. 69 

kings' and peoples' sins rebuked by proph- 
ets, Israel punished by captivity and again 
roused to do the right by her leaders and 
prophets. John the Baptist preached 
righteousness. Christ and his apostles 
marked the cleavage clearer than ever. 

All through the Book the idea is im- 
pressed that God proposes to restore sin- 
ful man by grace through One to be sent. 
The first promise of this was given to 
Adam and Eve in God's address to the ser- 
pent : " And I will put enmity between 
thee and the woman, and between thy seed 
and her seed : he shall bruise thy head and 
thou shalt bruise his heel.'' The promise 
was repeated successively, and in ever 
clearer terms, to IToah, Abraham, Isaac, 
Jacob, Moses, and David. The prophets, 
centuries before the Saviour's advent, fore- 
told his coming. The whole Bible may be 
summed up in three sentences, — " He is 
coming; He has come; He will come 
again." The one spiritual teaching, which 
has been called the " Epic of E^demption," 
is the burden of the Book. It was their 
bearing upon this teaching that determined 
the selection of the books which compose 
the '' Divine Library." 

There is a consistency in the various 



70 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

books in all the spiritual truths they im- 
part. God is always holy; man, sinful; 
the future of God's kingdom, triumphant 
and glorious. The teaching concerning re- 
generation and all other subjects whether 
it be given by Moses, David, Hosea or 
Paul, is essentially the same.^ 
Books are The dijfferent books are complements of 
a whole. ^ larger whole. The individual books, 
though in a sense complete in themselves, 
are yet but treatments of separate aspects 
of a larger subject. To get a complete 
statement of the subject of conduct, a per- 
fect view of human character, a thorough 
understanding of the new life, one needs, 
not one book, but the whole Bible. It is 
one book in that it contains all the facts, 
doctrines and persuasives needed for men's 
improvement. Every part has its peculiar 
worth, and contributes its share to the per- 
fection of the whole. As the continents, 
islands, lakes, seas, rivers, valleys and 
mountains are parts of one earth, so law, 
prophecy, poetry, ethics, and revelation 
are parts of one book. The speech of the 
patriarchs, the legislation of Moses, the 
song of the psalmists, the announcements 

* See on tte unity of the Bible, Sir W. P. Wood, The Con* 
tinuity of Scripture ^ for a fuller development of the 
argument. 



DIVERSIFIED UNITY. 71 

of the prophets, the gospel of Christ, the 
teachings of Paul and the apocalypse of 
John are organically one. The Bible is 
an orchestra: it has many parts but one 
grand volume of harmonious music. 



CHAPTER IV. 

CHOICEST LITERATURE. 

inspira- The Bible IS a peculiarly inspired book, 

yet it is thoroughly human. The inspira- 
tion was of a kind that did not obscure 
the personal traits of the writers. The 
life has a basis in clay as well as in the 
breath of God. The writers were not ham- 
pered in the least in their use of all legit- 
imate human devices to make the message 
attractive. The literary attractiveness, in- 
stead of proving God's absence, is rather 
an indication of his presence in both the 
form and spirit of the book. 

Human In days now departing the human ele- 

often hid ^^i^t was minimized by many. This was 
by men. j^^ jj^ p^P^ ^^ ^^^ ^^y [j^ which the book 

was printed. There was no regard to the 
form, whether prose or poetry, in which it 
was originally written. "No distinction 
was made between history or drama. "No 
effort was made to show the structure of 
discourse or epistle. The whole was 

73 



CHOICEST LITERATURE. 73 

printed in a dreary monotony of chapters 
and verses, separated not on the natural 
lines of cleavage, but capriciously. 

The manner in v^hich many men read 
the Word in public worship hid its human 
side. All naturalness was taken out of 
the vocalization of the words, and a cer- 
tain tone given to them which aimed to 
convey mysteriously to the audience the 
idea that they were hearing not man's 
word but God's. There is no doubt that 
the spirit of reverence was behind this 
manner of reading, and it inspired rever- 
ence in many ; but it is no less true that it 
did not attract the world to the Book. 
ITeither did it help Christians to see its 
beauty as literature. 

The method of preaching sermons from 
texts, useful in a hundred ways, failed to 
show, and perhaps hindered the vision of, 
the literary character of the Scriptures. 

The aim of God in using the Bible was ^0^*^ aim, 

and a 

to reach the ungodly and to develop the hmnan 
God-fearing. The latter might survive, ^°^' 
but would not thrive vigorously, on a few 
plain, unadorned chapters on morals and 
theology; a few paragraphs on the facts 
of the incarnation and the atonement, 
the duties of the present, the thoughts 



Y4 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

wticli comfort, support and guide. But 
God in his wisdom adapted the Word to 
the character of the men whom he had 
created. He suited it, as he did nature, 
for taste. He made it to catch the heart 
which was made to love the attractive. 

I. The Elements of Great Literature in 
the Bible. 

Figures of 1. The figurative language attracts. 

S1}66Cll 

Unknown ideas are difficult to comprehend, 
and hence are unattractive to many in their 
bald setting forth. These ideas, explained 
in terms of the known, instantly become 
attractive. The Bible makes spiritual 
truths clear and charming by means of ref- 
erences to known facts. Nature, common 
life, political and religious institutions 
and history are exhausted in making clear 
the character of God, the spiritual life, 
the future, etc. In giving the many- 
sidedness of the nature of God, he is 
called Lawgiver, King, Shepherd, Father, 
etc. Jesus Christ is spoken of as Son, 
Brother, Vine, Bread of Life, etc. Heaven 
is referred to as a house of many mansions, 
a city, etc. The care of God finds illus- 
tration in the mountains round about Jeru- 
salem; the thirst for righteousness, in the 



CHOICEST LITERATURE. ^5 

hart that panteth for water brooks. Evil 
is called " tares.'' The end of the world 
is a '' harvest." The ceremonies and in- 
stitutions of the Hebrews are used to illus- 
trate the truths of the Gospel dispensa- 
tion. The Epistle to the Hebrews con- 
tains striking examples of this use. Eef- 
erences are made in the New Testament 
frequently to the history of Israel, in the 
way of illustrating or pointing a truth. 
^' And as Moses lifted up the serpent in 
the wilderness, even so must the Son of 
man be lifted up; that whosoever be- 
lieveth may in him have eternal life '' 
(John 3 : 14, 15) ; " Eor they drank of a 
spiritual rock that followed them: and the 
rock was Christ" (I. Cor. 10: 4).^ 

ITot only do the figurative details make 
the truths attractive, but they themselves 
are essentially attractive. The picture of 
nature illustrating the might of God, which 
is given in Psalm 29, is vivid and grand. 
One can see the storm, marching up from 
the Mediterranean, through the mountains 
of Lebanon, and into the wilderness of 
Kadesh. The portrayal of the love of God 
in Luke 15, is full of beauty in the touches 



* See E. Robie, " Figurative Language of the Scripture/* 
£i6. 5ac. vol. 13. p. 314. 



76 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

of human life which it gives. In all the 
natural descriptions and the relation of 
simple incidents there is perfection. God's 
knowledge of and power over nature as 
depicted in Job 38 to 41 has no parallel. 
There is a charm in the glimpses of com- 
mon life we get in all the narrative. A 
good example is found in Gen. 24. 

Great 2. The Bible occupies the topmost 

place in literature by virtue of the themes 
which it presents for human consideration. 
About all of its discussions there are a 
majesty and a magnificence more than 
kingly. N"o other book has such weighty 
subjects, as may be seen from a mention of 
some of them. A Power Underlying All 
and Guiding All. The Purpose of the 
World. Perfect Human Life. A Perfect 
Social World. Service. World Federa- 
tion. A Life Beyond. The Evolution of 
Choice. The Vastness of Small Things. 
The grandeur is due to a combination of 
theme, vision and earnestness. 

Great^ 3. There is the spirit of the greatest 

literature in the Scriptures, without any 
detracting exceptions. They appeal to the 
best instincts, and draw them out into 
richer fulness, because they are an ex- 
pression of the best spirit. There is every- 



spirit. 



CHOICEST LITERATURE. ^7 

where from first to last a seriousness of 
purpose. It never bends to the foolish or 
absurd. Its aim at making men holy is 
never lost sight of in its history, poetry, 
prophecy, gospel and epistle. There is 
running everywhere a consciousness of the 
unseen. " Holy, Holy, Holy '' ever rings 
in the ear while we read ; God is ever near ; 
the invisible is about us. We are ever at 
the portal of the mysterious. JSTature it 
shows to us as vocal with God. And all 
this is not made repellent, but presented in 
a way that wins men's attention, and leads 
them to consider. There is a purity which 
is perfect. There is reference to the vices 
of men, but never in a way to make them 
attractive. The description of them never 
hurts the purest character or takes from 
the defenses of the weakest. There are 
no ^' siren songs of sensuality." If vice 
must be mentioned, unnecessary details are 
omitted, and the reader is alwavs made to 
feel the awful and hideous nature of sin. 
It touches men with its pathos. It is not 
dead to sentiment. The side of character 
is revealed which brings tears of joy in 
the seeing; tears of pride in humanity; 
tears of gratitude for noble nature; tears 
of generosity and patriotism. .'Nothing 



78 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

finer anywhere can be found than the de- 
scription of the death of Jacob, the affect- 
ing narrative of David and Absalom, the 
pertinacity and yet the submissiveness of 
the woman of Shunem praying for her 
son, the plaintive cry of the exile by Ba- 
bel's waters, and the " Forgive them '^ of 
Calvary. Though it is full of seriousness, 
sacredness, sobriety and sympathy it is also 
filled with joy. There is in it the ring of 
victory, not defeat ; the breath of life, not 
death; the whisper of hope, not despair; 
and confident assurance, not doubt. The 
joyful odes of Mary and Zacharias, the 
song of the angels, and the sublime strain 
of the Baptist from the wilderness, are but 
echoes in the New Testament from the long 
silent harps of the ancient prophets. 

4. The style of the literature, both of 
the Old and N"ew Testaments, places the 
Book at the head of all books. Its style is, 
in fact, a test of all style. 
Clearness. (1) N"oticing, of course, the fact that 
there are ideas which cannot be perfectly 
clear but to those who are spiritually 
minded ; that the Bible, as did Jesus, 
speaks in parables to those who are unpre- 
pared to hear ; one nevertheless cannot fail 
to observe that, taken generally, there is 



CHOICEST LITERATURE. 79 

simplicity of speech and directness. Even 
the parable is, in its outward shell, clear. 
Where can anything for simplicity of ex- 
pression surpass the narratives of Genesis 
or the Gospels ? 

(2) It bears the mark of fact. The Tmtiifal- 
sphere about which assertions are made is 

that of the inner, eternal, universal and un- 
changeable. All else is incidental. These 
assertions the Bible makes with a voice of 
authority so amazingly confident that it 
does not usually trouble to apologize, argue 
or prove. The truth in many of the asser- 
tions is self-evidencing, and cannot be de- 
nied by anyone. All other statements in 
regard to matters of the religious life which 
can be tried, have been tested and found 
worthy of reliance. Consequently when it 
speaks about the higher realities men take 
its word as final, believing it can be trusted 
here as it can be on the subjects of man's 
experiences, loves, longings, hopes, prob- 
lems and battles. 

(3) The word of God is wide and Compre- 

_ liGnsivG" 

deep. There is milk for the immature and ^ess. 
meat for the full-grown in it. It charms 
the child, and at the same time engages the 
thinker in its treatment of the vast prob- 
lems of the universe. There is no book 



80 'J^II^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

which so analyzes men's being. The deep- 
est emotions, motives and moods are laid 
bare. The will in all its intricate rela- 
tions is examined. The simplicity of state- 
ment is not because of any superficiality of 
idea. ITot only is there a profound insight 
and richness of conception in the Bible, 
there is also a range and amplitude of sym- 
pathy and knowledge which make it at once 
the book of all men. Jeremiah is pensive ; 
Hosea, loving; John, penetrative; James, 
practical; Peter, sanguine; and Paul, 
heroic. It knows the simple and the grand, 
city and country, land and sea, valley and 
mountain, the specific and the general, the 
seen and the unseen, the temporal and the 
eternal. Dives and Lazarus. 
Dignity. (4) There is an exquisite reserve 

everywhere. The details of sin are not 
dwelt upon. Writers speak about them- 
selves with modesty. The anticipation of 
great things is stated calmly. The com- 
mands are not overdone. The tenderness, 
the sympathy and the love are intimate, 
yet do not step beyond the bounds of pro- 
priety. There is a solemnity and sublimity 
in the air of the whole Bible which do 
not permit of descent from a height which 
recognizes at the same time the dignity of 



CHOICEST LITERATURE. 81 

the Lord and the dignity of man. The 
style is what Matthew Arnold called 
" grand. '^ There is an unforced and un- 
studied majesty in every line. 

(5) A glowing earnestness pervades Fire, 
every portion of the Scriptures. Even the 
prose lights up under the faith, which can- 
not be subdued, of the writers, and the 
line between prose and poetry is lost. 
There was a rapid vibration of the holy 
men's hearts, which gave a white-hot tor- 
rent of words, vehement, sparkling, sin- 
revealing, heart-searching, and heaven- 
lighting. And this was so, no matter if 
it was in reciting patriarchal narratives 
or portraying the loyalty of David's 
mighty men, the faith of Habakkuk, or 
the vision of the new heavens and the new 
earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.^ 

II. Tlie Forms of Great Literature in 
the Bible, 

In addition to the foregoing attractive 
elements of great literature, the Bible 
has the charm of being written in all the 
leading forms of great literature, and 
these at their best. The great essentials 

» See J. E. McFadyen, Bib. World vol. 16, pp. 438 ff. 



features. 



82 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

are found in all the great forms. This, of 
course, is not to say that every verse or 
chapter belongs to one of the great forms 
of literature. We must remember that we 
have here, besides formal and elaborate 
creations, briefs of addresses, reporters' 
notes, and editors' compilations. But 
even these are generally presented in a 
most fascinating manner. 
Unique Before mentioning the varieties of form, 

it may be well to notice certain unique 
features of Bible prose and poetry. 

The versification is not the measured 
blank verse of Milton, the smoothly flow- 
ing lines of Pope, nor the dancing rhymes 
of Burns. These do not of themselves 
constitute poetry. Poetry is not so much 
in the outer garb as in the inner glow. 
The inner ideas are generally expressed by 
poets in harmonious outer garbs of sound 
and measure, but not by Hebrew poets. 
Their harmony is of a higher order. It 
is the harmony of thought produced by 
paralleling whole propositions. The lead- 
ing thought is expressed, usually, in coup- 
lets, the first of which contains the main 
sentiment, the second repeats, amplifies or 
balances it. Illustrations may be found 
by opening the book of Psalms anywhere. 



CHOICEST LITERATURE, 83 

The following quotations will bring the 
parallelisms out clearly. 

**The earth is Jehovah's, and the fulness thereof; 
The world, and they that dwell therein. 
For he hath founded it upon the seas, 
And established it upon the floods." (Ps. 24: 1, 2.) 

** For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly 
in his pavilion : 
In the covert of his tabernacle will he hide me.*' 
(Ps. 27:5.) 

The sevenfold, -fivefold and threefold 
structures are prominent in Hebrew writ- 
ings. Solomon's Song, Ezekiel, Daniel, 
Hosea, Joel, and JSTahum are sevenfold. 
Isaiah has seven divisions, the seventh has 
seven visions, and the first vision is' seven- 
fold. Jeremiah has examples of the seven- 
fold structure. The three divisions of 
Amos are each sevenfold. In the New 
Testament, Matthew presents the Sermon 
on the Mount in seven sections. The 
Revelation of John has a prologue of seven 
addresses, and the body of the book is an 
unfolding of seven visions, each of which 
falls into seven subdivisions. The ^' Wis- 
dom " books, — Psalms, Proverbs, Ec- 
clesiastes and Lamentations — ^have the 
fivefold structure. Putting the Old and 
New Testaments side by side, there is a 



84 THE MAGNETISM Oi THE BIBLE, 

corresponding general threefold division. 
There is a division of the Old into His- 
tory, Wisdom and Prophetical books. In 
the ISTev^ we have a similar arrangement 
in History (the four Gospels and Acts), 
Wisdom (the Epistles), and Prophecy 
(the Revelation of John). 
1. Drama. 
Jo^- In the great literatures outside the 

Bible, Sophocles, Euripides and Shake- 
speare are the most distinguished drama- 
tists. The Bible is replete with dramatic 
incidents and situations. It has drama on 
a small scale in some minor poems. Job 
surpasses anything which the Greek or 
English dramatists ever produced. It is 
constructed on a majestic scale. Opening 
in heaven, with the sons of God presenting 
themselves before Jehovah, and Satan 
among them, the scene changes to earth, 
with an ash-heap for stage ; a panorama of 
universal nature for scenery — Orion and 
the Pleiades sailing by, a rising storm, 
flashing lightning, rolling thunder and an 
arching rainbow; for characters, Satan, a 
group of men, and God; for theme, the 
mystery of human suffering; for dramatic 
movement, patience to anger, anger to sup- 
plication, supplication to penitence and 



CHOICEST LITERATURE. 86 

trust; for outcome, the vindication of Job 
by the inter\^ention of Deity; for moral 
teaching, to " assert eternal Providence 
and justify the v^ays of God to men." 

2. Lyric. 

The Greeks had Anacreon and Sappho; Many 
the Eomans, Horace; and the Anglo- ^^^^^* 
Saxons, Shelley, Moore and Burns. These 
gave us secular lyric poetry at its highest. 
In the Old Testament all forms of lyric 
poetry are found. There are ballads like 
the Song of Moses and Miriam (Exod. 
15), monodies like Psalms 32, 51, medi- 
tations like Psalm 119. All of these are of 
a high poetic order, many of them reach- 
ing a sublime elevation. But the lyric 
poetry of the Bible reaches its zenith, and 
outstrips all the lyrics of the world in its 
sonnets^ odes, songs, idyls, anthems and 
elegies. The whole world cannot produce 
the equal of the ^^ Sonnet on Old Age," 
on that subject. 

"Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy 

youth : , 

Or ever the evil days come, 
And the years draw nigh, 
When thou shalt say I have no pleasure in 
them : 



86 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

Or ever the sun, 

And the light, 

And the moon. 

And the stars, 
Be darkened, 

And the clouds return after the rain: 
In the day when the keeper of the house shall 

tremble. 
And the strong men shall bow themselves, 
And the grinders cease because they are few, 
And those that look out of the windows be 

darkened, 
And the door shall be shut in the street ; 

When the sound of the grinding is low, 
And one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, 
And all the daughters of music shall be brought 
low; 

Yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high, 
And terrors shall be in the way ; 
And the almond tree shall blossom, 
And the grasshopper shall be a burden, 
And the caperberry shall burst : 

Because man goeth to his long home, 
And the mourners go about the streets : 

Or ever the silver cord be loosed, 

Or the golden bowl be broken. 

Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, 

Or the wheel broken at the cistern : 

And the dust return to the earth, 

As it was ; 
And the spirit return unto God, 

Who gave it/^i (Eccl. 12: 1-7.) 

1 See R. G. Moulton's Modern Readers^ Bible, 



CHOICEST LITERATURE. 87 

Hiunan mind cannot excel the " Ode on 
Divine Providence '^ (Psalms 103 and 
104). Campbell's '^ Hohenlinden/' Burns' 
^^ Scots Wha Hae," Scott's " Flodden 
Field/' or any battle scene in Homer can- 
not equal the " War-song of Deborah '' 
(Judg. 5). Its condensations are marvel- 
ous. The tramp of Canaanitish cavalry, 
the din of spears and shields are audible; 
the battle array and participating nature 
are visible as we listen to the song. Noth- 
ing in secular poetry equals in sustained 
loftiness of expression and grandeur of 
conception, " The Eeign of the Righteous 
King.'' 

*' Give the king thy judgments, O God, 

And thy righteousness unto the king's son. 

He will judge thy people with righteousness, 

And thy poor with justice. 

The mountains shall bring peace to the people, 

And the hills, in righteousness. 

He will judge the poor of the people, 

He will save the children of the needy, 

And will break in pieces the oppressor. 

They shall fear thee while the sun endureth, 

And so long as the moon, throughout all genera- 
tions. 

He will come down like rain upon the mown 
grass. 

As showers that water the earth. 

In his days shall the righteous flourish. 

And abundance of peace, till the moon be no 
more. 



88 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, 

And from the River unto the ends of the earth. 

They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow be- 
fore him; 

And his enemies shall lick the dust. 

The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall 
render tribute : 

The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 

Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; 

All nations shall serve him. 

For he will deliver the needy when he crieth, 

And the poor, that hath no helper. 

He will have pity on the poor and needy, 

And the souls of the needy he will save. 

He will redeem their soul from oppression and 
violence ; 

And precious will their blood be in his sight : 

And they shall live ; and to him shall be given of 
the gold of Sheba : 

And men shall pray for him continually ; 

They shall bless him all the day long. 

There shall be abundance of grain in the earth 
upon the top of the mountains ; 

The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon : 

And they of the city shall flourish like grass of 
the earth. 

His name shall endure for ever ; 

His name shall be continued as long as the sun : 

And men shall be blessed in him ; 

All nations shall call him happy. 

Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, 

Who only doeth wondrous things : 

And blessed be his glorious name for ever ; 

And let the whole earth be filled with his glory. 

Amen, and Amen.'* (Ps. 72.) 

" ]N"either Theocritus nor Virgil, the 
traditional masters of the Idyl have given 



CHOICEST LITERATURE. 89 

anything that in dramatic elaborateness 
approaches Solomon's Song." The praise, 
joy and bounding gladness of the world 
reach their earthly climax in the last five 
Psalms. The plaintiveness of the ages 
finds best expression in such elegies as 
Psalm 74, David's " Lament over Saul 
and Jonathan'' (2 Sam. 1:19-27), and 
the " Captives by Babel's Waters " (Ps. 
137). 

The riches of the Bible in this field of 
literature we cannot exhaust. Where let 
me ask again is such simple beauty, music 
and power of diction, such tenderness of 
feeling, such grandeur of imagery, such 
sublimity of conception, such devoutness 
of spirit, such morality of tone, such 
depth of experience, or such impelling 
power ? What is the " Hymn before Sun- 
rise in the Vale of Chamouni " of Cole- 
ridge compared with Habakkuk's anthem 
to Jehovah's glory ? * 

*' O Jehovah, I have heard the report of thee, and 

am afraid : 
O Jehovah, revive thy work in the midst of the 

years ; 
In the midst of the years make it known ; 
In wrath remember mercy. 

* In addition to lyrics noticed see Job 3, 14, 23, 36 and 
38-41, and such Psalms as 8, 18, 19, 46, 65, and 68. 



90 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

God came from Teman, 

And the Holy One from mount Paran. 

His glory covered the heavens, 

And the earth was full of his praise. 

And his brightness was as the light ; 

He had rays coming forth from his hand ; 

And there was the hiding of his power. 

Before him went the pestilence, 

And fiery bolts went forth at his feet. ' 

He stood, and measured the earth ; 

He beheld, and drove asunder the nations ; 

And the eternal mountains were scattered ; 

The everlasting hills did bow ; 

His goings were as of old. 

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction ; 

The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. 

Was Jehovah displeased with the rivers ? 

Was thine anger against the rivers, 

Or thy wrath against the sea, 

That thou didst ride upon thy horses, 

Upon thy chariots of salvation ? 

Thy bow was made quite bare ; 

The oaths to the tribes were a sure word. 

Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. 

The mountains saw thee, and were afraid ; 

The tempest of waters passed by ; 

The deep uttered its voice, 

And lifted up its hands on high. 

The sun and moon stood still in their habitation, 

At the light of thine arrows as they went. 

At the shining of thy glittering spear. 

Thou didst march through the land in indigna- 
tion ; 

Thou didst thresh the nations in anger. 

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy 
people. 

For the salvation of thine anointed ; 



CHOICEST LITERATURE. 91 

Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the 

wicked man, 
Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck. 
Thou didst pierce with his own staves the head of 

his warriors : 
They came as a whirlwind to scatter me ; 
Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor 

secretly. 
Thou didst tread the sea with thy horses, 
The heap of mighty waters." (Hab. 3.) 

3. Philosopliy. 

The wisdom of the centuries is given No system, 
to the world in the Scriptures, and that ^ruth. 
wisdom the human mind had not thought 
out elsewhere. It gives us accurately the 
truth concerning the being, the nature and 
the mutual relations of the three great oh- 
jects of human thought, namely, the uni- 
verse, man and God. Scattered through 
the book are maxims^ epigrams and prov- 
erbs which are crystallizations of human 
knowledge and experience. In Proverbs 
there are collections of these on various 
themes, such as " Intoxication," '^ Evil 
company " and '' Laziness.'' The Epistles 
of Paul, especially those to the Romans 
and the Galatians, give us the product of 
human thought at its strongest. In John's 
epistle we have incomparable essays on 
" Love," '^ Holiness," etc. In James 
there are classics on " Faith and Works," 



92 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

^^ Speech/' ^^The Origin of Good and 
Evil/' " Wisdom/' ete. In the Sermon on 
the Mount all the great essential principles 
of virtue are found. The great problems 
of Sin and Virtue are worked out by Job, 
the Psalmist (Psalms 37, 73), and Ec- 
elesiastes. Genesis gives the origin of 
things. The didactic portions portray 
with unequaled touch the heart of man, 
and the nature and works of God. The 
" Night Thoughts " of Young, the " Task " 
of Cowper, and Thomson's " Seasons " 
do not approach in realism and instruct- 
iveness the works of Job, Isaiah or Ezekiel. 
4. Epic. 

The " Iliad " of Homer, the ^^ iEneid " 
of Virgil, the " Jerusalem Delivered " of 
Tasso, the " Divina Commedia " of Dante 
and the " Paradise Lost " of Milton are 
the great epics of secular literature. 
Idealized There is no verse epic in the Bible like 
tiie' these. But it has some as strong, com- 
source of plete and intense. It has none as long as 
these, but great length is not a necessary 
essential. Its epics are not purely im- 
aginative, but are idealized fact. It de- 
iScribes vividly and narrates impressively 
the noble achievements of real characters. 



CHOICEST LITERATURE. 93 

Joseph (Gen. 37-50), Gideon (Judges 
6-8), Samson (Judges 13-16), Ruth, 
Saul (I. Sam. 9-31), Elijah (L Kings, 
17; 11. Kings 2) and Jonah are epics as' 
truly as any of the creative works above 
mentioned. 

Besides this the Old and ISew Testa- 
ments are the sources of the elements, 
facts, sentiments, characters, illustrations, 
and the moral and religious conceptions, 
which have entered into the framework of 
the great modem epics. 

5. Prophecy. 

Prophetic literature is confined almost porms. 
entirely to the Bible. It has many forms. 
It may be either a bold proclamation of 
God^s will as in Hosea 4, a hopeful pre- 
diction as in Zechariah 14, a wail of 
doom as in Jeremiah 50, 51, a shout of 
triumph, as in Isaiah 47, or a revelation 
of the future as in Revelation 21. 

This prophetic literature is everywhere 
on a high plane, worthy of the voice of 
Jehovah speaking from heaven to the sons 
of men. It reaches its highest in the 
rhapsodic sweep and the exultant song, in 
which the hope in a golden age and the 
triumph of God^s justice in the defeat of 
his enemies are proclaimed. The Rhapsody 



94 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE, 

of the Chaldeans in Habakknk (Hab. 2), 
the proclamation of the Day of the Lord 
in Joel (Joel 3), Isaiah's Zion Redeemed 
(Isa. 40-66), Ezekiel's Jerusalem under 
Judgment (Ezek. 8-11), and Jerusalem 
in Her Glory (Ezek. 40-48) are worthy 
examples. Here and there, in places not 
a few, prophecy reaches grand climaxes be- 
yond the power of words to describe ade- 
quately. We are forced to be silent and 
adore. 

** Lift up thine eyes round about, and see : they 
all gather themselves together, they come to thee ; 
thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters 
shall be carried in the arms. Then thou shalt see 
and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be 
enlarged ; because the abundance of the sea shall be 
turned unto thee, the wealth of the nations shall 
come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall 
cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah ; 
all they from Sheba shall come ; they shall bring 
gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the 
praises of Jehovah. All the flocks of Kedar shall 
be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Neba- 
ioth shall minister unto thee ; they shall come up 
with acceptance on mine altar ; and I will glorify 
the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as 
a cloud, and as the doves to their windows ? Surely 
the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish 
first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and 
their gold with them, for the name of Jehovah thy 
God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he 
hath glorified thee. " (Isa. 60 : 4-9.) 



CHOICEST LITERATURE, 95 

*' And he showed me a river of water of life, 
bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of 
God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street 
thereof. And on this side of the river and on that 
was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, 
yielding its fruit every month : and the leaves of 
the tree were for the healing of the nations. And 
there shall be no curse any more : and the throne of 
God and of the Lamb shall be therein : and his 
servants shall serve him ; and they shall see his 
face ; and his name shall be on their foreheads. 
And there shall be night no more ; and they need 
no light of lamp, neither light of sun ; for the Lord 
God shall give them light : and they shall reign for 
ever and ever." (Rev. 22: 1-5.) 

6. History. 

There is a network of history in the 
Book. The doctrines are built on ribs and 
backbone of fact. The theories were lived 
out by men and women. There has been 
an effort in certain quarters, in days now 
happily passing, to minimize the accuracy 
of Biblical history. A different attitude 
prevails since the monuments are coming 
forth to substantiate so wonderfully the 
statements of the sacred narratives. 

This history makes a most important Valuable 
contribution to the world's knowledge. It p^^^^ ^ 
has an account of the laws of a remarkable served, 
nation, which serves as the basis for the 
laws of all civilized nations. The biograph- 
ical matter which is here has, and has 



96 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

had, a most salutary effect on men. Here 
is the history of that race of people which 
has been the teacher of the nations in mat- 
ters of the spirit, and here is the history 
of the most important institution of the 
world, the Christian Church. Without it 
little would be known concerning the an- 
tecedents, Founder and early days of this 
most influential and beneficent helper of 
mankind. 
7. Oratory. 
Contains Daniel Webster once said that to have 

essential 

elements feue eloquence there were needed the 
^Q^y^' man, the subject, and the occasion.'' In 
the man the chief essentials of oratory are 
intellectual power, vivid imagination, ener- 
getic will, intense convictions and refined 
taste. The subject must be of immense 
significance and importance. The occasion 
must be critical. When a Demosthenes 
discusses the liberty of Greece, on the occa- 
sion of a threatened invasion of Philip of 
Macedon, the world hears an oration. 

The men of the Bible are in no wise in- 
ferior in gifts to the orators of Europe 
and America. They have talents, just as 
good, with an added glow of great relig- 
ious fervor. Their themes are the highest, 
deepest, broadest and weightiest that mind 



CHOICEST LITERATURE. 97 

can turn over. Their critical occasions are 
as dramatic as any in history. When 
Moses, after a leadership of forty years, 
and about to take leave of earth without 
entering the Land of Promise, addresses 
his people as to their duty, Israel hears a 
pathetic farewell that reaches the sublime 
heights of oratory. The dedication of 
Solomon's temple was one of the mile- 
stones in Jewish history. The ceremony 
was august and glorious. The Hebrew 
monarch was before the altar of Jehovah. 
In that prayer of praise and supplication 
the assembled hosts listened to words, than 
which none in human speech are more 
magnificent. Paul stood in the court of 
Areopagus where once sounded in stento- 
rian tones the voice of Demosthenes. In 
his full view are the glories of Grecian 
architecture and sculpture. Before him 
he can see the temples of the gods. 
Within the reach of his words are those 
who have come to hear, on its first pro- 
mulgation on European soil, the gospel 
which he knows will silence their oracles. 
The address on Mars' Hill will, because 
of its passing excellent presentation of the 
primal truths of nature and the funda- 
mentals of Christianity, in such majestic, 



98 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

dignified, felicitous, and courageous sen- 
tences, ever stand as one of the supreme 
and immortal achievements of man. 
Jesus, — who can rightly characterize his 
discourses ? He is alone and unapproach- 
able. Whether it be in his Sermon on 
the Mount, his denunciations, or his last 
address, there is power, truth, pathos, 
earnestness and sublimity never before 
reached, and never to be reached again. 
Bible ora- Man is the apex of creation. The 
summit words of inspired men are the summit of 
acw^^^ human accomplishment. Both the other 
plish- attainments of man and impersonal na- 
ture are surpassed by them. The most 
glorious architecture in the world is found 
in the structure of literary products. 
Nobler is the structure of Phillips Brooks' 
sermons than the architecture of Trinity 
Church, Boston. The grandest color 
schemes on canvas or in nature fall short 
of the word pictures of a genius. Su- 
perior the word painting of Talmage to 
the variegated colors of the Grand Canon. 
The strongest action is tame beside the 
rush of thought. More thrilling are the 
words of Lincoln than the clang of bayo- 
nets on Gettysburg ; the torrent of Patrick 
Henry's emotion than the falling floods of 



CBOiCEST LITERATURE, 

Niagara. The tallest mountains are low 
beside the poet's vision. More lifting than 
Mount Blanc is the immortal hymn of 
Coleridge. Greater than Brooks and 
Talmage; greater than Lincoln and 
Henry; and greater than Samuel Taylor 
Coleridge are the architects, painters, in- 
spirers and guides of Scripture, and by so 
much more are they entrancing. 



CHAPTEE V. 



TREASURES FOR THE INTELLECT. 



All truth 
for the ^ - 

intellect, knowledge. 



Not a 
treatise 
on 

science 
or philos- 
ophy. 



The intellect can admit " revealed '^ 
There is no schism between 
intelligence and spiritual faith. They 
both are based on a participation in the 
Divine intelligence. " There is a spirit 
in man, and the breath of the Almighty 
giveth them understanding" (Job 32: 8). 
The great moral and spiritual truths 
themselves, as well as the evidence for 
them, are grasped by the intellect. But 
in this chapter these revealed truths will 
be treated, at the most, indirectlv. We 
shall call attention to the truths and facts 
which, though they may have an influence 
on the moral and spiritual life, provide 
both exercise and food for the mind. 

The Bible is not a treatise on science 
or philosophy. It is not a book for the 
intellect chiefly. It is first of all a moral 
and spiritual book. Yet, in presenting its 
moral and spiritual teachings, it lays a 
100 



TREASURES FOR THE INTELLECT. 



101 



rational foundation for them. It shows 
the nature and mutual relations of the 
finite and infinite. It shows facts con- 
cerning God, man and the world inci- 
dentally, or as illustrations, in making 
their nature and relations clear. Hence in 
no small way is it an intellectual book, 
but in a profoundly imjDortant way. So 
important a book for the mind is it, that, 
considered in a comprehensive manner, the 
claim for a foremost place for it in that 
line may be well defended. Considering 
its brevity, and the multiplicity of sub- 
jects upon which it touches, and their 
fundamental character, the thoroughness 
and universality of its treatment are mar- 
velous. 



poetic, 

not 

scientific. 



I. Tie World. 

Many would find in the Bible, by Bible is 
ingenious interpretations, observations ^^^ 
which they claim show conscious knowl- 
edge abreast of modern science, or at least, 
anticipations of later discoveries. They 
claim, for example, for the writers, 
knowledge of the sphericity and rotation 
of the earth, its suspension in space, the 
weight of the air, and the possible use of 
electricity. There are stronger claims 



102 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

even than the foregoing made for the ac- 
curacy and extent of the Bible's scientific 
data, but with no more likelihood of ac- 
ceptance. Earnest attempts, for instance, 
have been made to show the exact accord 
of geology with it as to the order of crea- 
tion given in the first chapter of Genesis. 
But in these, as in all other attempts to 
reconcile the statements of Scripture in 
every detail with the exact affirmations of 
science, effort is futile. Science, to quote 
one illustration, flatly denies that the 
creation of the sun followed chronolog- 
ically the appearance of vegetation on the 
earth. 

If it were borne in mind, that the Bible 
uses popular and poetic, and not strictly 
scientific, language, in speaking of the 
facts of the world, there would be on the 
one hand fewer inaccuracies attributed to 
it, and on the other, fewer remarkable 
coincidences with science. We would not 
call the Scriptures unscientific, but non- 
scientific. The writers referred to the 
world as it appeared to their senses, just 
as we, in common conversation, do to-day. 
It had not entered into the conception of 
the world of their day, nor for a thousand 
and more years after, what it was to be 



TREASURES FOR THE INTELLECT. 103 

scientific. Their cosmogony was given in 
a poetic garb. If we examine the Genesis 
account of creation carefully we shall see 
that it is poetical, and not intended to be 
scientific. The poetic element is seen not 
only in the language and form of sentence, 
but in the structure of the story. There 
are two main divisions, the first ending 
with the thirteenth verse. In each divis- 
ion are three parts. The parts of the 
second correspond to and balance the parts 
of the first respectively as follows: 

First division. Second division. 



a. Light (vs. 1-5) Luminaries (14-19). 

h. Water and firmament (6-8). . Water and air ani- 
mals (20-23). 
c. Land (9-13) Land animals (24-31).i 

The poetic crowds out the strictly chrono- 
logical. 

Because we have in the Bible the Ian- strictly 
guage of casual observation and poetry, is oncer- 
it to be passed by as unworthy of confi- t^^^ 
dence in so far as accurate truth concern- mentals, 
ing the world is concerned? Assuredly 
not. We should not go to the Bible it is 
true for our geology, physics, astronomy, 
zoology or biology. It does not aim to 

1 This poetic arrangement was called to my attention by 
Prof. W. J. Beecher in his classroom. 



104 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



teach these. All references to these sub- 
jects are incidental, and in no wise meant 
to be scientific, or beyond the dignified 
popular conception or tradition of the age. 
There is a teaching, however, concerning 
the world which is along the line of the 
purpose of the book and which is strictly 
accurate. It establishes the relations ex- 
isting between the world and God. On 
these fundamental things, which is its 
province, the Bible is final. The dis- 
covery of this, its true character, will 
make it none the less attractive. 



Creation, 



The world 
is the 
glory of 
God. 



1. The world was brought into existence by God. 
" In the beginning God created the heavens and the 
earth" (Gen. 1:1); "The pillars of the earth are 
Jehovah's, and he hath set the world upon them " 
(1 Sam. 2:8); '' Where wast thou when I laid the 
foundations of the earth?" (Job 38:4); "Our help 
is in the name of Jehovah, who made heaven and 
earth" (Ps. 124:8); " Jehovah by wisdom founded 
the earth ; by understanding he established the 
heavens" (Prov. 3:19); "I am Jehovah, that 
maketh all things ; that stretcheth forth the heavens 
alone ; that spreadeth abroad the earth " (Isa. 44 : 24) ; 
"He that built all things is God" (Heb. 3:4). 
The idea is woven into the heart of Scripture. 

2. The world of things, men and events was made 
to manifest God. * ' The heavens declare the glory 
of God" (Ps. 19:1); "All nations .... shaU 
come and glorify thy name" (Ps. 86:9); "Glorify 
God in your body, and in your spirit, which are 
God's" (1 Cor. 6:20); " This sickness is .... for 



TREASURES FOR THE INTELLECT. 105 

the glory of God " (John 11 : 4) ; " Whether therefore 
ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the 
glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31); '^Neither did this 
man sin, nor his parents : but that the works of God 
should be made manifest in him " (John 9:3); '* Let 
the whole earth be filled with his glory " (Ps. 72 ; 
19). The world expresses the character and activi- 
ties of God. 

3. All things are sustained by God. " The eyes Provi- 
of Jehovah thy God are always upon it, from the be- dence. 
ginning of the year even unto the end of the year " 
(Deut. 11:12); '* He increaseth the nations, and he 
destroyeth them" (Job 12:23) ;" Jehovah is my 
shepherd ; I shall not want " (Ps. 23 : 1) ; '* O Jehovah, 
thou preservest man and beast" (Ps. 36:6); "He 
sendeth forth springs into the valleys" (Ps. 104:10). 
The whole of Psalm 104 is given up to recounting 
the power of God which is ever active and constant. 

This teaching refutes that which says The Bible 
that God and the world are one. It also ^^Iiq^_ 
opposes emphatically the idea that the ophy. 
only power behind things is a blind force. 
There is a positive note about it which is' 
in striking contrast to the agnostic's si- 
lence. It is urgent in putting forth a per- 
sonality to explain the origin^ continued 
existence and meaning of the world; and 
to provide a reason for the onward move- 
ment of the whole towards a moral end. 
There is wide room for the exercise of the 
speculative powers, yet at the same time 
there is provided the only successful and 
satisfying account of the universe. 



106 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Popularly 
illus- 
trated. 



These profound thoughts are repeated, 
emphasized and ramified by illustrations 
in popular and poetic language of their 
truth in all spheres of nature. Moun- 
tains, rivers, rocks, clouds, lightnings, 
rainbows, and stars are called upon for 
evidence. The plants of the field, and the 
animals of the land, air and water are 
marshalled forth in their classes, and ac- 
cording to their habits, to prove " the hand 
that made them is Divine/' 



Extensive 
history. 



II. Man. 

The Bible is not a text-book on phys- 
iology, biology or psychology. iNTeither 
has it been put forth by God as an outline 
of ancient human history. ISTevertheless 
there are many interesting facts and ref- 
erences given which prove to be enlighten- 
ing. 

The facts which the Bible gives about 
man, historically considered, are worth 
while. We have in another place noticed 
the exhaustive history of the Jewish race 
which it gives; its wide range of refer- 
ences to contemporary nations in their 
policies, treaties, wars and downfalls; its 
reflection of the world of its day. It 
makes besides this, incidental reference to 



TREASURES FOR THE INTELLECT. 107 

the history of early humanity, bridging an 
otherwise prehistoric chasm, and filling it 
with credible facts. 

There is a storehouse of facts concern- 
ing the superstitions, credulities, hered- 
itary customs, modes of thought and 
general character of men at various stages 
of man's history. There is an implied de- 
velopment of the race, in apprehension of 
truth, in morality, and in individuality. 

Quite a complete treatise on the struc- Hints on 
ture of man as a rational being could be ^gy^ 
written on the basis of indirect and in- 
cidental references in the Scriptures.^ It 
would be a most attractive study, to fol- 
low out the tripartite doctrine of spirit, 
soul and body found in the Bible, espe- 
cially in the New Testament, and in Paul's 
epistles in particular. iN'ot in any formal 
way, but by maxims, proverbs, parables 
and appeals it hints at man as a free, 
thinking, responsible, self-conscious being, 
that possesses conscience, soul, spirit, body, 
mind, heart and will. 

1. The origin of man is treated di- Man's^ 

oriffin. 
rectly. The idea which the doctrine of 

materialistic evolution gives of the origin 

of man is not the biblical one. Man has 

* See Olshausen's iVew Testament Psychology, 



108 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

not come by direct generation from the 
beast. It says that God made the beasts 
" after their kind.'' It affirms that " God 
created man in his own image.'' It leaves 
wide room for the method and manner of 
creation^, but it never fails to emphasize 
the agency of God in every step. 
Character. 2. The Bible affords an appreciation 
of human character keener than can be 
found anywhere. Other books show men 
in dress parade; this shows them in their 
homes and at their work, where all ad- 
ventitious influences are absent. In other 
books the personal equation of the writer 
enters in to palliate weakness^ conceal 
facts, and exaggerate deeds; here men are 
weighed by the unchanging standards of 
light and truth. It gives an abstract 
presentation of conduct, and analyzes 
motives with rare discrimination. The 
book of Proverbs especially is rich in 
these incisive views. But generally the 
concrete example is presented, and the 
effects of character on conditions and 
conditions on character are seen; and 
the consequences, which result from dif- 
ferent combinations of moral traits, and 
from various modes of action are ascer- 
tained t<) a practical certainty. The 



God's im 
age. 



TREASURES fOR THE INTELLECT. lo9 

patriarch in tlie midst of herdsmen and 
traders; Moses and his associates in a 
period of nation-forming; Gideon in war- 
rior times; Solomon in the conrtier life 
of the monarchy; Amos in the approach- 
ing disaster of the nation; Daniel in the 
midst of flattering hypocrites in exile; 
Paul surrounded by the unspeakable cor- 
ruption of a decaying civilization. It is 
" divine philosophy teaching by ex- 
ample." ■'• 

3. The kinship of man with God is Made in 
one of the most fruitful thoughts ever 
given to the world. " God created man 
in his own image " (Gen. 1 : 27). ^' Whoso 
sheddeth man's bloody by man shall his 
blood be shed: for in the image of God 
made he man " (Gen. 9:6); " But there 
is a spirit in man, and the breath of the 
Almighty giveth them understanding '' 
(Job 32: 8) ; " The spirit of man is the 
lamp of Jehovah " (Prov. 20 : 27) ; '' He 
is the image and glory of God " (L Cor. 
11:7); ^' Who are made after the likeness 
of God'' (James 3:9). Being made in 
the image of God suggests that man has 
self-knowledge and the power of self- 
direction; can discern right from wrong; 

1 See C. E. Stowe in The. Teachers' Indicator, pp. 157-159. 



110 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

can connnune with God ; and above all can 
work for the same ends for which God 
works. He can be an imitator of God 
(Eph. 5:1), whicb does not mean a par- 
rot-like follower, but a living, conscious 
worker for the same ideal. 

The Bible teaches that the self-centered 
life is suicidal. To find the true life, the 
abundant life, one must lose his life. He 
must live, not as apart from the world, 
but as a part of it. He must make God 
his dwelling place. He must see that the 
" will of God '^ is the law to follow if his 
life will attain its fullest development. 
He must learn that true freedom is his 
will following the ^^will of God.'' And 
that he may have the matter more con- 
cretely set before him he is persuaded to 
live in Christ. 
Man a 4. The life that is in God is social, 

ing!^ ^' ^^^^ made in the image of God is ex- 
pected to be social. Worship ; the recipro- 
cal duties of the home; the principles 
which should underlie the community, city 
and state ; the character and obligations of 
rulers, judges, merchants, etc. ; the ques- 
tions of charity, industry, marriage, etc., 
all receive vital treatment. 



TREASURES FOR THE INTELLECT m 

III. God. 

The Bible nowhere proves that God ex- 
ists; it assumes his existence. It takes 
that for granted which is the only con- 
gruous explanation of our mental and 
moral natures, and of the material world, 
— ^a First Cause, intelligent, personal, 
infinite and perfect. It takes for granted 
the existence of a supernatural order. 

1. The fact of a revelation of God is God has 
insisted on from first to last. The claim Himself, 
is made and maintained throughout that 
God has manifested himself in the physi- 
cal universe; in man's constitution and 
through his '' inward parts " ; in the events 
and trend of history; and in a special 
way in Jesus Christ. This revelation can 
be seen by the natural mind, but perceived 
more fully by the spiritually minded. 

Professor A. B. Davidson, makes this The world 

a mani- 
distinction between Greek and Hebrew festation 

philosophy: the Greeks aimed at discover- 
ing God in nature ; the Hebrews aimed at 
recognizing him whom they knew.*' To 
the Hebrew the world was an instrument 
by which God communicated himself. It 
was the expression of the character of 
God. " ITature red in tooth and claw '^ is 

* Biblical and Literary Essays, p. 80. 



of God. 



112 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

not biblical. Love and sacrifice, and not 
selfishness, impurity, malevolence and 
hatred, are the primal laws of the world. 
Everywhere justice is triumphant. The 
law that sin works out death; that 
wrong is not triumphant ; that the ways of 
the good and the bad are not equal is not 
confined to any race, time, clime or sphere. 
The world does not promise what it does 
not give. Men may imagine promises, 
and they may not be fulfilled. But the 
world and our faculties, when in their 
normal condition, working in conjunction 
with our reason, give us the truth. There 
is no caprice in the laws of the world. The 
world can be relied upon to bring forth 
spring-time and harvest in their seasons. 
The love, justice, veracity, constancy and 
holiness of God were evident to the 
Hebrew in his creation. Eedemption 
after disintegration was another universal 
process of the world which revealed him. 
His wisdom and power were seen on every 
hand. And not in the physical universe 
alone, but in every sphere, his character 
was expressed. Even life and freedom 
are manifestations of him. All this the 
Bible contends for and yet stops short of 
pantheism. " In him we live, and move, 



TREASURES FOR THE INTELLECT. II3 

and have our being." (Acts 17:28.) 
" The whole earth is full of his glory." 
(Isa. 6:3.) God is immanent in the 
world, yet the world does not constitute 
God. 

2. The Scriptures mark three dis- Heisre- 
tinctions in the being of God, — ^Father, Trinity 
Son, and Spirit. Each is spoken of as ^^^^' 
God. ^' Him the Father, even God, hath society, 
sealed" (John 6:27). ^^ The great God 
and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2: 
13). " Satan filled thy heart to lie to the 

Holy Spirit, thou hast not lied unto 

men, but unto God " (Acts 5 : 3, 4). 
These distinctions are eternal. The Son 
was " in the beginning " with the Father. 
The Spirit was brooding upon the face 
of the waters. The three are equal. 
Oflacially, the Father is first, the Son, 
second, and the Spirit, third; but there is 
no inferiority of one compared with the 
others. " We do not say that one God is 
three Gods, nor that one person is three 
persons, nor that three Gods are one God, 
but only that there is one God with three 
distinctions in his being." ^ The Father 
is the authorizing power, the Son, the 
obeying power, and the Spirit, the realiz- 
ing power. Or, as Phillips Brooks put it, 

1 strong, Systematic Theology^ p. 168. 



214 3^^-^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

the Father is end, the Son, method, the 
Spirit, power. Here is a rich, wonder- 
fully rich, vein of thought which may be 
followed to wide limits. Pursuing the 
line of thought of the preceding paragraph, 
the Bible would have men recognize God 
everywhere. This suggests that we look 
for him in society. What are the basal 
principles of society? Authority, Obe- 
dience, Realization — End, Method, Power. 
In government we discover the judicial, 
legislative and executive departments. In 
the family, church, city, and state there 
are these three functions. The social life 
of man manifests the social life in God. 
The Fatherhood, sonhood and spirithood 
of God run through humanity. The 
Trinity is stamped on the world. 
Bible^ _ 3. The problems of thought with which 

the men of the Bible wrestled belonged to 
one general class. They endeavored to 
show how certain things, apparently in- 
consistent with the character of God, can 
be reconciled with his goodness. They at- 
tempt to interpret those things in such a 
way that the mind may find peace in their 
presence. The three chief discussions are 
the following: 



problems. 



TREASURES FOR THE INTELLECT. 115 

(1) The prosperity of the wicked 
(Psalms 17, 37, 39, 49 and 73). 

(2) The calamity of the just. The 
entire book of Job is given to it. 

(3) How to be happy in this life. 
The book of Ecclesiastes devotes itself to 
this. 

4. The fact of a Divine Power in the ^^} ^^J^^ 

towards 

universe " which makes for righteous- an end. 
ness,'' is pointed out to the intelligent. 
The Scriptures call attention to one who 
applies a balm to the heart of oppressed 
virtue ; who carries the yoke with the mis- 
understood and oppressed benefactor; who 
puts new life into those crushed by the 
heel of tyranny; who turns into defeat 
the apparent triumph of evil-doers. 
^' Jehovah upholdeth all that fall, and 
raiseth up all those that are bowed down '' 
(Ps. 145) ; " And the loftiness of man 
shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness 
of men shall be brought low " (Isa. 
2:17); ^^ God resisteth the proud, but 
giveth grace to the humble^' (Jas. 4:6). 
There is a Strength for men which comes 
to aid them where their strength ends, and 
which carries their good deeds to a more 
glorious issue. 

All these truths and more the Bible 



116 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



The in- 
tellect's 
gym- 
nasium. 



The Bible 
and 
" isms." 



supplies as food to the mind. At the open- 
ing of the chapter we said that it pro- 
vided exercise as well as food. So it does. 
Besides giving truth, it gives strength and 
steadiness. It strengthens the imagina- 
tion. Almost one-half of the books of the 
Old Testament are poetry and a large part 
of the rest are poetical in spirit. The al- 
lusions and suggestions, which are con- 
stantly made, force the reader into wide 
fields, which, of course, will develop him. 
Often there must be a struggle to grasp 
the meaning, because it is not all tropics 
with fruits ready to pick and eat; much 
of it belongs to other zones and yield only 
by " the sweat of the f ace.'^ It calls for 
search, thought and judgment. When 
sympathetically laid hold of it has power 
to enlighten the mind with a peculiar 
quickening and exhilaration. Always on 
a level of high thinking, it never descends 
to the vain and imbecile, but wins respect, 
and appeals to the best intelligence with a 
challenge.^ 

From the foregoing it will be seen how 
satisfactory the Bible is to the mind com- 
pared with the " isms ^' of the world. 
Atheism is contradicted by the direct cer- 

1 See Stowe, op. cit. pp. 167-169. 



TREASURES FOR THE INTELLECT. I17 

tainty of God existing in the mind; ma- 
terialism by the separation of soul and 
body; pantheism by personality; deism by 
providence; rationalism by miracles; pes- 
simism by hope; agnosticism by positive 
affirmations; positivism by man's need of 
the spiritual. It is firm in its opposition 
to the Buddhistic ideas of theosophy. 
Against the vapid views of Christian Sci- 
ence it affirms the believability of the 
senses, the actuality of matter, the value 
of medicine, the fact of sin, the personal- 
ity of God and the reality of redemption. 
It has the modicum of truth in all the 
" isms,'^ v^hich have any worth, without 
their error and extremes. Its complete- 
ness and consistency of thought are a rest 
to the mind. 



CHAPTEK VI. 

PEERLESS MORAL GUIDANCE. 

Shows how j-j^ ^].g records of ancient times which 

to mani- 
fest God the Bible gives^ and especially in the story 

of Israel's experiences, we have three 
things along the line of morals made plain. 
First, God desires to be revealed in the 
life of men. Secondly, it is possible for 
man to reveal God and in so doing to at- 
tain to a remarkable degree of moral per- 
fection. And, thirdly, the principles 
which will guide man to this end are given 
in the Scriptures and conscience. 

These records and moral teachings may 
not be attractive in some ways to the trans- 
gressor, yet, secretly, he admires them and 
will scorn any less moral. The seeker 
after righteousness finds in the Word, a 
lamp unto his feet and light unto his path 
(Ps. 119:105). 

I. Contents which Raise Questions. 

Many devoted lovers of the Book are 
troubled by certain statements in it. They 
118 



PEERLESS MORAL GUIDANCE. HQ 

cause them dismay. They are filled with 
confusion when they cannot answer the 
scoff of enemies. They sometimes wish 
those features were not there. 

They question certain narratives which 
to them seem revolting. 

1. The extermination which is said to Wars of 
have been prosecuted at the command of ^^ll 
Jehovah shocks them; such, for instance, tion, said 
as the expedition against the Amalekites beenor- 
undertaken by Saul under the auspices ^^^^-^^ 
of Samuel (1 Sam. 15), and the slaughter immoral- 
of fifty thousand men of Bethshemesh who erated. 
looked into the ark. They dislike the 
sins, which are said to have been tolerated 
in Israel as a nation. Blood revenge was 
practised. '' But if any harm follow, then 
thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, 
tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for 
foot, burning for burning, wound for 
wound, stripe for stripe " (Ex. 21 : 23- 
25). Polygamy was indulged in by 
Lamech, Abraham, Esau, Jacob, Gideon, 
David, Solomon and others. It was toler- 
ated by the law apparently, as intimated 
in Ex. 21:10; 1 Sam. 1:2; and 2 Chr. 
24 : 3. Easy divorce seems to have been a 
general thing and allowed by the law 
(Deut. 21:14). 



120 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

Immoral- 2. Another matter which creates con- 

itiesof 

heroes. stemation is the hero-worship rendered to 
men who have grave imperfections. Noah 
was so stupefied with wine that he was 
beastly, yet it is said of him, " Noah was a 
righteous man, and perfect in his genera- 
tions: Noah walked with God" (Gen. 
6:9). Lot became drunk, and was guilty 
of incest, yet we are told that God " de- 
livered righteous Lot '^ (2 Pet. 2:Y). 
Jacob, crafty, cunning, practising selfish 
strategy, mercenary, and servile, is yet 
represented as a favorite of heaven; and 
his name, changed to Israel, was given to 
a nation. Jael, treacherously and brutally 
ending Sisera's life, having invited him to 
partake of her hospitality, is eulogized by 
Deborah the prophetess. '' Blessed above 
women shall Jael be'' (Judg. 5:24). 
Samson, leader of massacres and victim of 
amorous passions, is given a place in the 
eleventh chapter of Hebrews with Abra- 
ham and Moses. David lied, feigned 
idiocy, practised polygamy, seduced Bath- 
sheba, and murdered her husband Uriah, 
yet he is called by God, " a man after my 
heart'' (Acts 13:22). 

Impreca- 3^ A third feature of Scripture which 

tions. , 1 • 1 

causes surprise to many, and gives a chance 



PEERLESS MORAL GUIDANCE. 121 

for caviling to others, is the imprecatory 
passages. These are found in Psalms 7, 
35, 58, 69, 109, 137, 139, 149 and others. 
There are also passages outside of the 
Psalms, for example. Lam. 3 : 64-66, and 
Jer. 15 :15. In these passages are found 
what, on the surface at least, seems to be 
personal animosity, sinful rage, blasting 
curses and inhuman wishes that the ene- 
my's life be cut shorl^ his prayers be un- 
answered, and his end be destruction. 

What can be said to these things ? What 
relief can be extended to the one who is 
dismayed and whose mouth is stopped ? I 
call special attention to the following 
quotations as affording an admirable sum- 
ming up of biblical morality. 

Principal Ottley, calling attention to Must make 
three kinds of morality in Scripture, says, 
" The morality of the Old Testament is a 
phrase to be used with discrimination. 
There is the morality which God tolerates 
as the best that can be attained under the 
conditions and circumstances of those with 
whom he is dealing. There is the morality 
which he approves and delights in because 
it rises above the average level of the age 
in which it appears. There is the morality 
at which he aims, — the final or perfect 



distinc- 
tions. 



122 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

morality which is disclosed in the spotless 
life of Jesus Christ/' He further goes 
on to show that the morality, which was 
hateful to God, was that which showed 
retrogression of any kind.^ 

Professor J. F. McCurdy, in an article 
on the subject, writes, '^ We must dis- 
tinguish between practises which are wrong 
in themselves and those which w^ere (or 
/ are) permissible under certain conditions, 
but are normally reprehensible. The latter 
class fall under the head of social institu- 
tions which along with the approving senti- 
ments of the community are gradually 
eliminated by the Christianizing and hu- 
manizing of society. Of the former we 
may say that they were wrong from the be- 
ginning. Thus it will be generally agreed 
that it was always wrong to lie, steal, cheat, 
murder." ^ 

Professor George E. Berry, on the sub- 
ject of tolerated sins, says, " This toler- 
ance was no compromise with sin. The 
Old Testament was not designed to be a 
comprehensive and complete manual of 
ethics. The Bible was rather given as an 
aid in the moral training of the Hebrew 

* Aspects of the Old Testament^ p. 421. 

* Bih. Worlds vol. 23, p. 409. 



tion. 



PEERLESS MORAL GUIDANCE. 123 

nation. It gives a general moral training 
rather than specific moral commands for 
those evils which general training gradu- 
ally and more effectively removes than 
specific commands would.'' ^ 

If we bear these thing's in mind the Explana- 
moral difilculties will be less disturbing. 
The facts will then appear in their true 
light. They are the weaknesses and faults 
of men, sometimes of men the main trend 
of whose lives was godly. These faults are 
not approved by the Bible ; they are some- 
times allowed, but not supported by God; 
they are later condemned by other parts 
of the book, and by the Bible as a whole. 

Eegarded thus, these features appear in 
order that the world might know that 
Israel's men obeyed God in spite of awful 
temptations; tbat the human soul has be- 
fore it possibilities of awful sin and deg- 
radation; that the development of a man 
and of a race morally is a long process; 
that the Heavenly Father is full of pa- 
tience, pity and pardon.^ 

The imperfections of heroes are not ap- 
proved by the Bible, even if it be silent in 
regard to many of them. As a matter of 

» Bih. World, vol. 21, p. 203. 

* See G. F. Herrick in Bib, Sac.^ vol. 42, pp. 601 flP. 



124 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

fact, the sins of the Old Testament worth- 
ies were punished. The praise bestowed 
upon them, and the place of honor given to 
them, were granted, not because their faults 
were overlooked, but because they were 
judged by the general trend of their lives 
and by their privileges. And further, it 
must be remembered that the men of those 
days must be weighed, bearing in mind that 
they were immature compared with the 
Christian standard. Their measure of 
light was limited by their ability to see. 

In regard to the accounts which attrib- 
ute to God commands to exterminate 
armies and peoples, there is this much at 
least to be said. God raises and lays low. 
By laws which he has planted in the con- 
stitution of things the degenerate nation 
falls into dissolution before the advance of 
the nations which walk in his ways. His 
purpose of progress cannot be thwarted 
with impunity. But having said this, we 
affirm our belief that God never asked a 
conquering nation to commit horrible atroc- 
ities, either in general or detail, and never 
approved of cruel passions. The partici- 
pants in such repulsive actions may have 
supposed that they had the sanction of God, 
— indeed, we find the early Hebrews some- 



PEERLESS MORAL GUIDANCE. 125 

times referring evil directly to God, — ^but 
we cannot believe that he ever tempted 
man to be inhuman. Taking this view, 
these features will not make the moral 
teachings of the Bible unattractive. 

The moral teachings of the Bible are not 
marred by the imprecatory passages. 
Bible ethics as a whole, and especially the 
ethics of the ITew Testament, condemn 
their sentiments. It may be granted that 
they do not express a purely personal 
spirit, but are the attitude toward evil men 
taken by persons who identified themselves 
with God's interests.^ Yet under this 
most favorable view they are the product 
of men whom the Scriptures can justify 
only for their zeal, and can but condemn 
for their bitterness. Whatever interpreta- 
tion may be given to these passages, the 
Bible frees God from the accusation of in- 
spiring sentiments of hatred and vengeance 
in men against their fellow men. The pas- 
sages force upon us the duty of differenti- 
ating, as Archdeacon Hessey says, " be- 
tween righteous anger against vice and 
wickedness and unchastened anger, which 
leads men to pray for or take in hand re- 
quital on their personal oppressors.'^ 

iW. T. Davison, Hastings' Dictionary of the Bihle^ 
Psalms" vi. 5. 



126 1'i^E MAGNETISM OP TBE BIBLE. 

There is no moral teaching in the Scrip- 
tures, nor is there any narrative, which 
need create a demand for " an expurgated 
hook, such as Ulphilas gave to the warlike 
Goths/' when he omitted the records of the 
Jewish wars. Our Bible is a better teacher 
of morals because there is in it no trace of 
dilettanteism. 

II. Supremacy as Moral Guide. 

Conscience In considering any guide for moral 
posed. l^f^ WG must presuppose conscience and 
the moral intuitions. These are not sup- 
planted by any guide. They may be en- 
lightened, and need to be, but their au- 
thority must not be nullified. Their as- 
sent is necessary before any action can be 
moral. 

Insnf- Men everywhere have recognized that 

ficiencv 

of arti- the average man, if not every man, needs 

systems C)utside guidance, in order that his steps 

of may be led aright. Superior men have 

endeavored to render this assistance to 

their less fortunate fellows, and have 

therefore framed systems of morals for 

their benefit. But all these systems have 

proved inadequate. 'No mere man can be 

sympathetic enough, universal enough, and 

impartial enough to provide a system, 



PEERLESS MORAL GUIDANCE. 12^ 

equally fitted for all^ as far as the control 
of their outward actions is concerned. 
And much less can a human being provide 
a system that can adapt itself to every age. 
And to invent a system that will help make 
a man moral within, as well as without, to 
man is impossible. Eules for the outward 
life are helpful, maxims are useful; but 
no Epictetus or Marcus Aurelius is suf- 
ficient for this thing. 

Men have sometimes thought that the I'ig^t of 
light of nature is guide enough. It might not 
be helpful to a few rare souls to a great ®^ongli 
degree. Their own finer feelings and sen- 
timents might speak to them of the good, 
the true and the beautiful. The great 
world without might breathe of justice, 
love, veracity, constancy, beauty and peace. 
But it has no message of an atoning God, 
who redeems, who strengthens, and who 
saves. And to the mass of humanity, with- 
out any other help, their own heart-beats 
would be deafening, in what would be to 
them a mute and silent world. ^ 

The best guide is God's Word, and for 
the following reasons : 

1. The morality of the Bible is re- 
ligious. The apparently external had an 

J See B. B. Edwards in Bib. Sac, vol. 3, pp. 23 fit. 



128 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Bible mo- 
rality re- 
ligious 
and 

stimulat- 
ing. 



It gives a 
balanced 
life. 



inner significance. It begins with the 
springs of conduct, and supplies motives, 
affections and knowledge, which at once 
enable a man to become pure within, and 
consequently without. There are secondary 
motives often offered, it is true, such as 
happiness, the hope of reward, and the fear 
of punishment ; and these have their place. 
But the fundamental motive, and the most 
ennobling and impelling ever given to the 
world, is the manifestation of God by men. 
'' Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or 
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of 
God" (1 Cor. 10:31); .•. . ^^ that in 
all things God may be glorified ..,.'' 
(1 Pet. 4: 11). Objects of supreme worth 
are presented in men ; in the world of na- 
ture ; in truth ; in good character ; and in 
God as revealed everywhere, but especially 
in Jesus Christ. The mind is purified, 
invigorated, and furnished with appropri- 
ate knowledge. 

2. By the commands and exhortations 
of the Word a balanced life is ordered. 
Personality is not destroyed. The idiosyn- 
crasies, natural to the individual, may be 
allowed. Yet where disorder prevails; 
where there is an excess of one-sidedness ; 
where there is a smothering of some power 



PEEHLESS MORAL GUIDANCE. 129 

or virtue, there harmony is insisted upon. 
The end in view is a well-rounded life, a 
full realization of the rich life, by having 
every normal faculty at its best, and doing 
its utmost. This is living unto God. 

3. The prohibitions of the Bible, as ProMW- 
are its commands, are universal in their sp°e^t^^' 
character. There may be a special appli- freedom, 
cation, yet there is embodied a general 
principle. In this way the freedom of the 
individual is not violated, his will is not 
crushed. His conscience is quickened, 

and his judgment exercised. And the pro- 
hibitions, too, begin with the inner life. 
They go behind the overt act, behind even 
the half-formed desire, to the very first 
tendency to evil in the heart Wavering 
is wrong. Hesitation even is sin (Matt. 
5:28). 

4. The vision of the main purpose of A perfect 
life, of the life which obedience to that pur- ^^^^ ®' 
pose creates and of the life inconsistent 

with that purpose, is further strengthened 
by an example of perfect life in Jesus 
Christ, which forever stimulates, steadies 
and lures onward. In him the world has 
a standard of conscience which can never 
become obsolete. 



130 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

III. Wide Range of Duties. 

1. We may notice first, man's duties 
to the world, and especially the world of 
men. 

Man's duties to man are based upon the 
character of God. '^ I am Jehovah " fur- 
nishes a reason for perfect society. If 
God is to be manifested by man socially, 
man must live righteously in his so- 
cial relations. Hence the exhortations of 
the Bible to refrain from the great sins 
against society — murder, robbery, bribery, 
cruelty, drunkenness, obstinacy, conceit, 
lying, malice, oppression, dishonesty, in- 
discrimination in dealing out justice, and 
lack of sympathy. 

In the The prophets are the great teachers of 

altruism. Their ideal was a glorious com- 
munity in which the law would be service. 
In them brotherly-kindness, equality of op- 
portunity and sympathy for the weak first 
find voices. From the sermons of Isaiah, 
Hosea, Joel, Amos and Micah there could 
be compiled, and that by mere quotation, a 
quite complete manual of social ethics. 

In Prov. The book of Proverbs covers a very wide 

®^^^* field too. If one were to take it, pencil in 

hand, and read it through, and mark the 

things one should avoid, he might have a 



PEERLESS MORAL GUIDANCE. 131 

list as follows : anger, breach of confidence, 
contention, deeds of violence, disdainful- 
ness, dissimulation, evil machinations, 
flattery, greed, hatred, indolence, ingrati- 
tude, jealousy, land-stealing, lying, op- 
pression of the poor, revenge, slander and 
treachery. Then if one should read again, 
and mark what things to cherish, he would 
have such a list as this: charity towards 
another's faults, considerateness, courage 
in delivering the innocent, fidelity in 
friendship, helpfulness, justice, kind words, 
kindness toward an enemy, liberality, love, 
mercy, tact in speaking, uprightness, and 
wisdom in treating with a foolish person.^ 

The Epistles of the New Testament In the 
abound in practical suggestions on the sub- 
ject of duty to one another. It is Paul's 
habit to indoctrinate first, and then apply 
his truth to life. The latter part of his 
letters are always given up to precepts. 

The Bible is not silent on the matter of Political 
political morality. The men who wrote it 
were too close to public affairs not to have 
politics referred to in their writings. 
Israel as a nation was compelled to work 
out the problems of national morality, and 
the solution of those problems are given 

i See Charles F. Kent in Bib. World, vol. 3, pp. 198 ff. 



132 T^^ MAGI^ETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

to us. It would not be expected, of course, 
that here we could find page and verse to 
solve all the questions in detail, which 
arise in our modern complex political life. 
What we do find are the broad principles 
upon which national stability and progress 
depend. ^National weal or woe depends 
on the well or ill-doing of the individual 
citizens. ISTations, as well as individuals, 
are included under the inviolable law of 
duty and retribution. Eulers, judges and 
magistrates are responsible to God and 
man. A country's well-being consists in 
justice, righteousness and reverence to 
God. Better that the nation perish than 
that the citizens be disloyal to God and 
duty. The history of Jehovah's words to 
the kings of Israel by the prophets, and 
his dealings with them; the warnings of 
the prophets to the inhabitants of Israel 
and Judah ; and the doom of the disobedi- 
ent nations all teach these things. Exam- 
ples of the teachings may be found in Jer. 
8:18-9:16; 32:16-35; Amos 1-2.^ 
Economic Economic rights and duties receive much 
notice. Many of their economic laws no 
doubt were adapted to their peculiar man- 
ner of life, and to that stage of civilization, 

1 See J. F. McCurdy, Bib. World, vol. 24, pp. 17, 18. 



morality. 



PEERLESS MORAL GUIDANCE. I33 

and might not be suitable under different 
conditions and circumstances to-day. Yet 
the underlying principles are eternal and 
unchangeable. Quotations might be multi- 
plied, but I shall make but a few. A man 
has a right to the reward of his labor. 
'' The laborer is worthy of his hire '' 
(1 Tim. 5 : 18). The wages should be ade- 
quate. " Masters, render unto your serv- 
ants that which is just and equal'' (Col. 
4:1). Cheating in trade is forbidden. 
" The getting of treasures by a lying tongue 
is a vapor driven to and fro by them that 
seek death" (Pro v. 21: 6). Men are not 
absolute owners of land or beasts, but users. 
" The earth is Jehovah's, and the fulness 
thereof" (Ps. 24:1); "Yor every beast 
of the forest is mine. And the cattle upon 
a thousand hills" (Ps. 50:10). There 
should be a limitation of monopoly. " Woe 
unto them that join house to house, that 
lay field to field, till there be no room, and 
ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of 
the land!" (Isa. 5:8). l^o man should 
be forced into a condition of poverty. 
" What mean ye that ye crush my people, 
and grind the face of the poor? saith the 
Lord, Jehovah of hosts" (Isa. 3:15). 
2. The duties of a person to himself 



134 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

Duty to ai^e mentioned, not so much directly as in- 
directly. There is a constant undertone 
which repeats over and over " What shall 
a man give in exchange for his life ? '' 
Care for the body and all the faculties of 
mind and heart is enjoined. The prepa- 
ration needed in order to live to the glory 
of God is man's duty to himself. But here 
we pass over into the spiritual sphere, and 
therefore we shall leave the subject for 
fuller discussion in the next chapter. 

Duty to 3^ The supreme duty impressed upon 

us is the glory of God. That done, all 
duties to self and others are fulfilled, be- 
cause glorifying God consists in sobriety, 
honesty, sympathy, justice, truthfulness, 
etc. But apart from these there are per- 
sonal, peculiar and direct obligations which 
man owes to God. These are absolute sur- 
render, reverence, worship, honor, trust, 
obedience, communion, etc. But here again 
we infringe upon the subject of our next 
chapter, and we stop. 



CHAPTEE VII. 

UlSriQUELY EXPERT SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS. 

The teachings of the Bible, though they 
may be regarded as for the intellect and 
morals, are ultimately spiritual. The 
fundamental and real things, which lie 
behind, and at the spring of all visible, 
audible, and thinkable things, are the mat- 
ters treated. And the truths given are the 
most important ever announced. 

L The Spiritual Teachings. 

1. Concerning the Being and Relations God. 
of God, Man, and the World. 

The books of all religions, either directly 
or indirectly, deal with these great ques- 
tions. But there is no treatment anywhere 
so satisfactory to both reason and con- 
science as in the Bible. So daring and sub- 
lime are the conceptions, and yet so con- 
sistent and worthy of all confidence, that 
there is nothing else in the world which 
wins and holds the attention of men as the 
^^ Epic of Redemption " does. 
135 



136 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

(1). The Bible does not speak of God 
from a philosophical standpoint, but from 
a practical. His being and attributes are 
sketched with boldness and directness. He 
is a personal spirit " infinite, eternal and 
almighty, most holy, just and wise, most 
merciful and loving." ^ ITo other repre- 
sentation of Deity in his majesty and per- 
fection as that given in the Scriptures, can 
be found in any other religion. The God 
of the Bible is adorable. 
The world (2). The explanation given of the 
God. world of men and things, as the manifesta- 
tion of God, calls only for mention, since 
it has been noticed at sufficient length in 
Chapter V. In this answer to the ques- 
tions, '' What does the world mean ? '' 
" Why does it exist ? " the Bible shows its 
immeasurable superiority to atheism, ag- 
nosticism, and pantheism. It gives an an- 
swer, which not only satisfies the intellect, 
but which speaks peace to the heart. If 
God's purpose in the world be a full and 
nnmarred manifestation of himself, then 
we have a pledge of the banishment of 
injustice, selfishness, impurity, deceit, and 
malevolence. 

* The School Catechism. Issued by a conference of the 
Reformed Churches of Scotland. (Wm, Blackwood <^ 
Sons, Edin. ^ Lond— 1909.) 



UNIQUELY EXPERT SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS, I37 

(3). The profound insight into the na- Sin. 
ture of sin belongs to the Word of God 
alone. There is no attempt to theorize on 
the origin of sin. The practical here, too, 
as on nearly all other questions, alone re- 
ceives attention. In other religions the 
sin is in the outward act; here it is in the 
heart. The responsibility for sin is placed 
on the man who commits it; because sin is 
a refusal on the part of a free moral being 
to choose to manifest God, and is the choice 
of the false, the loathsome and the devilish. 
It is ignorant independence desiring, lean- 
ing toward, and working the deeds of dark- 
ness. In its essence it is not so much 
against self or society, as it is against God. 

** Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, 
And done that which is evil in thy sight ; 
That thou mayest he justified when thou speakest, 
And be clear when thou judgest." (Ps. 51:4.) 

Nowhere else is sin made to appear in its 
real character, its hideous awfulness. Its 
train of evil consequences is shown in the 
uncontrollable effects of one's sins on his 
progeny, and on the nation. Haggai 
speaks of corruption being more contagious 
than holiness (2: 12, 13). It is laid bare 
as the blight of the world, the cause of sor- 
row, toil, and death. " The whole creation 



138 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

groaneth and travaileth together until 
now'^ (Eom. 8: 22). It has man chained 
in bondage, so that it is impossible for him 
to break away from its thraldom, and every 
moment the fetters are tightening their 
grip. So long as he remains in slavery, 
eternal and accumulating woe stares him 
in the face. 
Penitence (4). Man's choice of sin did not 
trust. thwart the purpose of God. He redeemed 
man from the life of sin to the life of son- 
ship ; and without transgressing man's free- 
dom he made him adopt the life of holi- 
ness. The story of how it was done is the 
real story of the world's history. It is the 
central message of the Bible. 

N'ot alone by increase of knowledge, 
multiplication of good deeds and eradi- 
cation of vices is the life of sons attained. 
From the very first the need of repentance 
and faith is emphasized. The gate into 
the larger life is passed through by stoop- 
ing. The condition of repentance is im- 
pressed upon men by the revealed attitude 
of God toward sin. The attitude of trust 
is inculcated by the hopefulness of God, 
revealed in his promise given at the begin- 
ning, and repeated over and over to patri- 
arch, lawgiver, psalmist and prophet, that 



UNIQUELY EXPERT SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS. 139 

redemption from sin is in store for the 
world ; and by his revealed love and desire 
to pardon. The need of repentance and 
faith were supremely stamped on men's 
minds " in the fulness of time '^ by the 
atonement of Christ. The iN'ew Testa- 
ment writers make every possible effort to 
convince the world of the importance of 
the fact. It is spoken of as propitiation, 
ransom, sacrifice and substitution, but 
these figures all convey one truth, viz., God 
was in Christ reconciling the world to 
himself, by showing it his attitude to- 
ward its sin and his love and hope for its 
redemption, and by working in a living 
way in them who look, the spirit of trust 
and penitence. In this teaching of the 
" narrow gate '' and the '^ straitened way '' 
the Bible is alone among sacred books. 

The spirit of repentance and faith in Redemp- 
man, then, is due to God. The spiritual co-opera- 
life for which this spirit is the preparation, *^^®' 
is wrought by him also. This is the testi- 
mony of Scripture. " Turn us, O God of 
our salvation '' (Ps. 85 : 4) ; " Create in 
me a clean heart, O God; and renew a 
right spirit within me '^ (Ps. 51 : 10) ; 
" Born, not of blood, nor of the will of 



140 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 
God'' (John 1:13). 

But Scripture asserts also that man, too, 
has to do with the beginning of the new 
life. ^' Cast away from you all your trans- 
gressions '' (Ezek. 18:31); ^^ Turn ye, 
turn ye from your evil ways '' (Ezek. 
33: 11) ; ^^ But as many as received him, 
to them gave he the right " (John 1 : 12) ; 
'' Awake, thou that sleepest '' (Eph. 
5:14). 

Both aspects can be reconciled. God is 
the efficient cause; man is the conditional 
cause. God has the spiritual life to give; 
man is the free being who can choose or 
refuse it. Without God giving man can 
never have; without man allowing God 
can never give. God's holiness, love, jus- 
tice, hatred of sin, sorrow for sin, etc., are 
dammed up against the sluice-gates of every 
life. Man's sinfulness does not allow the 
divine stream near the wheels. Man then 
gets the spirit of trust and penitence, and 
consequently raises the sluice-gates. Thus 
doing he fulfils the condition upon which 
the life is made anew. He chooses the life 
of God. 
Sanctifica- Perfection does not take place instan- 
pro^ess,* taneously; it comes after a process of 



UNIQUELY EXPERT SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS. 141 

growth. The first choice is a fundamental 
one, and will influence all after choices; 
but it is not the only choice one must 
make. Knowledge of what sin is, and 
what the God-life is, will become clearer, 
and ' will necessitate many choices. The 
essential character of the spiritual man is 
sinless; but in every spiritual man there 
are remains of sin, because the knowledge 
and consciousness of sin are only gradually . 
crystallized, and the knowledge of certain 
spiritual activities is only gradually ap- 
prehended. To help man in this process 
of growth, God gives his Spirit, who uses 
various agencies. He cares for his own 
and reveals his secrets to them. He helps 
them to grasj^ religious opportunities. See 
Psalms 34 and 91 ; Isa. 43 ; the books of 
Daniel, Haggai and Zechariah. 

(5). The life of sons reaches its high- The 
est earthly development, not through re- mfj/.^ 

tiring from the world of men, nor by indi- ^®fi^*,^°^ 
. T . . •: . of God is 

viduals living among men yet working in- in the 

dependently for personal improvement ; ^^^ ° 
but by union with others whose effort also church, 
is to glorify God in their lives. The social 
life of righteous people, joined together 
for mutual good and for altruistic pur- 
poses, is the highest manifestation of the 



142 ^^^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

God-life possible in the present world. 
Teaching this, the Bible, both by precept 
and illustration, encourages the redeemed 
to unite into one brotherhood in order to 
attain to the life that was in Jesus Christ, 
and, as his '^ body," to continue to exem- 
plify to the world the attitude of God to- 
ward sin, and his loving purpose of re- 
demption. Thus the church will be an 
eternal force in the world, building up the 
^' body " intensively and extensively until 
at last society will be universally righteous 
to the glory of God. Here, again, the 
Bible goes deeper than any other religious 
book, by showing that the permanent puri- 
fication of society will be attained, not 
through any process of mere reformation, 
but through its regeneration. 

God's per- (g)^ n^^^ limitations of space and 
i6Cti rev- ^ .1% 

elation time prevent a perfect manifestation of 

aXture. ^^^ ^J ^^^ body, the church; hence the 

Bible postulates a hereafter. K'ot from the 

nature of man, but from the character and 

purpose of God, and from the nature of 

holiness, which to subsist must maintain, 

express and communicate itself, must we 

believe in a life hereafter, where God will 

not come short of the consummation of 

his purpose. 



UNIQUELY EXPERT SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS. 143 

In this connection the Scriptures assert Reward 
that the righteous will be rewarded. The ^bV^" 
reward will be the enjoyment of a self that tion. 
has become godlike. It will be the peace, 
joy and aspiration of godliness. There is 
also the warning of retribution for the 
wicked. It is the rebound in and upon life 
of sin. It is the reflex influence of diso- 
bedience. It is the negative, uncertain, 
inharmonious and remorseful condition of 
the one who refuses to let God be mani- 
fested through him. Here again the Bible 
deals with the question in a practical way, 
and refrains from speculation. 

2. Concerning the Religious Inner 
Life. 

(1). The deep, unequaled insight of 
the Word into the questions of sin, peni- 
tence and faith has been indicated in a 
general way. We should not fail to notice 
that it first called the world's attention to 
tlie different forms and causes of sin, and 
the varieties of religious experience in in- 
dividuals. 

The moral law is violated, not only in Varieties 
the lion-like way, but also in the serpent- ° ^^^* 
like. Sin is not only a matter of violent 
transgression; it may be also a matter of 
pure indifference. A man's weakness may 



144 rJEffi MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

be due, not only to faculties abnormally 
developed, but also to atrophied abilities. 
The causes or motives lying back of the 
outward act of v^rong may be varied. One 
man may be bound by inferior ties, a second 
may be blind to his possibilities, a third 
may be hoodwinked by the mirage of the 
^' far country," a fourth may be cursed 
by his fondness for conventionality, and 
so on. 
Varieties The Bible shows the new life as twelve- 
impulses, gated. It can be reached from many di- 
rections. The man who longs to do the 
right at any cost; to speak for God to the 
mighty; to dream the dream of faith in 
God and man ; to inherit at last the house 
not made with hands, hears in these long- 
ings the call of the Spirit, and he comes. 
The one who sees the march of God, and 
takes it as his call to arms, enters the city. 
Loyalty to the religious instincts of the 
soul leads others. The one of little faith 
touches the hem of his garment, and lo! 
she is admitted. The adventuresome soul, 
anxious to possess the treasures of the un- 
tried, launches out into the deep, and he 
is successful. The lover of the mystical 
is lured on by the descriptions of the life 
abundant, and he finds himself ^^in 



UNIQUELY EXPERT SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS. 145 

Christ.'^ The warm-hearted man, fond of 
fellowship, is suddenly transformed by the 
contagion of the character of Jesns. The 
poor, the halt, the maimed and the blind 
are brought into the presence of the King 
and Physician, through the beneficence of 
the religion for the disadvantaged. Heroic 
self-sacrifice appeals to some, and the 
Scripture affirms that in them the life of 
Calvary is continued. 

The types of Christian life are many. Varieties 
There are intellectual Christians, emo- tians. 
tional Christians and practical Christians, 
according as the thoughts, feelings, or ac- 
tivities predominate. There are those who 
are absorbent, whose soul windows are 
open, and who wait on the Lord ; and those 
who stoop to lift, and who are in bondage 
with the bound. Some go on to know the 
Lord; others make progress by reversion. 
Some are on the frontier, heroically bat- 
tling against iniquity, and intolerant 
against error, while others are doing picket- 
duty at the base of supplies. 

(2) Though the types of Christians 
may be many, there are nevertheless cer- 
tain moods common to all. I mention 
some of them. 

The Christian regards man as his 



146 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Kinship, brother, and God as his Father. He has 
enthusiasm for humanity. He is bound 
"with his fellows in their struggles, tri- 
umphs, and injuries. The filial feeling 
towards God balances the feeling created by 
the thought of a transcendent God. 

Reverence. God is set apart from all things as holy. 
He is not one with the things which he 
has made, nor with the forces of the world. 
He is above history, as the author of the 
great movements of progress in the na- 
tions, races and institutions of the world. 
He is the hallowed Being, who breathes in 
our hearts the better desires, and fashions 
in us our holier conditions. 

Loyalty. Every man of God renders allegiance 

to the things and states which molded him 
for his good. The family, social, political, 
and ecclesiastical relations, which are or- 
dained of God for man's help and improve- 
ment, find in the Christian a loyal sympa- 
thizer. He gives time and energy to the 
development of his own manhood, and in 
completing that manhood comes into closer 
and closer affinity with the world to come. 
He is loyal to the rule of God in the 
world, in the life, and in the spiritual 
world. 

Resignation to God's will and co-oper- 



UNIQUELY EXPERT SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS. 147 

ation witli it are the ideal attitudes for Obedience, 
human beings. Waiting for " his good 
time/' submitting gladly to his dealings, 
removing all barriers to higher communica- 
tions, working for the end and law of one's 
own being, fulfilling human relations, and 
obeying the eternal principles of righteous- 
ness, — this is the part of a true man. 

" Perfect love casteth out fear.'' It in- Serenity, 
spires trust in God, that he will control 
nature, that it may provide for us ; that he 
will give strength and diligence, that we 
may earn the things we need ; that he will 
give justice and the sense of stewardship 
to men, that they may not withhold from 
us ; that he will continue from day to day 
to do this as occasion demands it. 

The redeemed soul does not forget that Magna- 
he has been forgiven. The thought of his ^^^^^* 
past guilt, God's mercy, and his future 
need are ever with him. That goodness, 
which removes his burdens day by day, 
creates the forgiving spirit within. He 
puts away pride, envy, malice, and un- 
charitableness, and becomes patient and 
kind. 

The soul that desires to live the God- Respon- 
life is awake and sensitive to the influences 
of heaven. The calls, persuasions, ideals. 



148 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

and love of God do not come down on dull 
ears, blind eyes, and dead heart. There 
is no laziness or torpidity in the one who 
has been stirred by the sight and voice of 
God. 
Rest. There is no dismay in the righteous man. 

He does not fret himself because of evil- 
doers. He believes that God rules, is pres- 
ent, protects, and triumphs at his pleas- 
ure. He hopes for the future, believing 
in the justice and munificent preparation 
of God. He rejoices in the present, be- 
cause above, below and all around he feels 
the glory of God. He is neither faint nor 
weary, because within him are the health 
and strength of God. 

II. The Uniquely Expert Character of 
the Teachings. 

The foregoing teachings of Scripture 
show that its spiritual truths are not of 
that superficial sort, which may be gleaned 
from the observation of nature, or from 
human reasoning. But this is not all. 
Expert be- -^ There is an a priori assumption in 

canse of ^ ^ ^ ^ 

authors, favor of their unique character, from the 
attainments and nature of the people 
through whom they were given. 

All other great religious books were 



UNIQUELY EXPERT SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS. I49 

written by men who were searching after 
God if haply they might find him. Their 
statements concerning him and their re- 
lations to him were gropings in the dark. 
The Bible was written by men who had 
already found God. With a comparatively 
clear knowledge, and an understanding of 
him which was ever growing clearer, they 
spoke of him, and of the experiences of 
their own relations with him. 

The Hebrews were a people specially 
adapted to receive and transmit spiritual 
impressions of the truth. The Greek's 
temperament was artistic ; the Roman's 
was legal; the Anglo-Saxon's is practical; 
the Hebrew's was religious. The Jew was 
made capable of delving into the founda- 
tions of things. He was mystical in the 
best sense. 

2. Their nature bears evidence of the Faithful to 
unique character of these teachings. They deepest 
are faithful to man's deepest experiences, l^l^^' 
They meet the vital needs of men as God 
alone could. In man's extreme hours, 
when fellow mortal is weak in rendering 
aid, the Scriptures are a divine help. In 
affliction they comfort. The Word is 
adapted to every period of life. When a 
man is young he may not be able to under- 



ences. 



150 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

stand some things ; but when he is old they 
interpret themselves to his heart. It is 
faithful in . its presentation of religious 
crises, as anyone who has experienced such 
can testify. 
Inexhaust- 3. Trench, in his Hulsean Lectures, 
calls attention to the inexhaustibility oi 
the Scriptures. Age after age finds new 
and richer meanings in them. Their truth 
is limited only by the capacity of men to 
grasp it. The Reformation found new 
meaning in Paul. The church had not 
fully appreciated until then the doctrine 
of justification by faith. The gospel of 
missions, of personal work, and of giving, 
have been found in it, after reading it for 
centuries. Every great revival -of religion, 
and every great reformation of doctrine, 
followed some special study of Scripture. 
At the present new meanings are found in 
the Gospels, as the Person of Christ is 
being studied. The doctrines of Inspira- 
tion, the Incarnation and the Atonement 
are not yet exhausted. And the future, 
with the extension of Christianity into the 
East, is bound to find new meanings in 
John. 

Ko man in his lifetime can begin to 
know the Bible thoroughly, there are so 



UNIQUELY EXPERT SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS. 151 

many diverse elements in it. There is no 
ready-made order or system in it. It has 
so much compacted in even small portions. 
It is replete with sentences which are, as 
Boyle says, " abridgments of human his- 
tory." And, in addition to this, it is a 
comprehensive record of life, and who can 
exhaust life? 

Considering these things we can do 
nothing else than confess that here is 
God's word, and pray, 

*' Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold 
Wondrous things out of thy law " (Ps. 119: 18). 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

REASONABLE SUPERlSrATUKALISM. 

Those who believe in the Bible know 
and feel right well that from their own 
present experience, and from the experi- 
ence of mankind in general, the presump- 
tion is strongly against the miraculous. 
They do not fail to observe, also, that from 
the standpoint of science, taken by itself, 
the presumption is against miracles. 

Notwithstanding these facts, they claim 
that the character of the supernatural found 
in the Bible is of such a nature that, seen 
clearly, it will appeal to reason, and win 
its endorsement. 

I. Denials. 

There are certain misconceptions in re- 
gard to the supernaturalism of the Scrip- 
tures which need to be cleared away.-^ 
Nature not 1. It has been affirmed that to believe 
in it one must give up all belief in a natural 

* See Brownlow Maitland, Miracles, pp. 11-94, on the sub- 
jects of the first and second sections of this chapter. 

152 



fixed. 



REASONABLE SUPERNATURALISM. I53 

order of things. The Bible teaches that 
there are fixed laws which are safe to fol- 
low. One can draw inferences from the 
past for the present and future. One can 
with very little doubt, depend on the sun's 
rising to-morrow. The farmer can con- 
clude pretty definitely that harvest will 
follow sowing. The Bible does imply that 
nature is not bound by an established fix- 
ity of things which is absolute. Science 
cannot contradict that implication. 

2. It has been said that belief in mira- God not 
cles would mean belief in a God, who is 
changeable, short-sighted, and lacking in 
power. The highest conception of God 
which that assertion implies is a fixed God. 
Its man is a mere machine, and its world 
a physical thing. With such conceptions, 
miracles, of course, are impossible. But 
the world is moral, man is free, and God, 
though unchangeable in his holiness, is the 
most variable being in the universe in his 
activities. It is his glory. He adapts 
himself to the needs of his free children. 
He is our Father. His freedom and mo- 
rality transcend the physical. A free 
moral God is higher than a fixed God. 

3. It is claimed that miracles are ab- 
surd because they are supported by the 



154: 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Bible 
miracles 
never 
contra- 
dicted. 



testimony of a few against the testimony 
of multitudes. It would, all things con- 
sidered equal, be foolish to believe any- 
thing against the weight of evidence. But 
when this claim is made in regard to the 
miracles of Scripture it is unfair. There 
is no miracle in the Bible which a few 
claim to have happened, that a larger 
number, present at the same time and place, 
claim did not happen. There is no testi- 
mony to the contrary in regard to any of 
the particulars of the supernatural of 
Scripture. 

But it may be said by some that this 
does not answer the claim, that the uni- 
formity of nature contradicts the miracles 
of Scripture. What is the uniformity of 
nature? E"ature is not one simple thing, 
but has two factors, " elementary forms of 
action and laws for their combination.'' 
USTature is not uniform in the former of 
these factors; its uniformity pertains to 
the latter. ISTow the laws which combine 
the elementary forms of action are in oper- 
ation in miracles as in the familiar pro- 
cesses; miracles do not dispense with them 
nor transgress them ; hence the laws do not 
contradict miracles. The miraculous in 
miracles belongs to the elementary forms 



REASONABLE SUPERNATURALISM. 155 

of action. It differs from the "asual forms 
but nature allows for that^ and therefore 
does not contradict it. Both the uni- 
formity of natural law and the diversity 
of natural activity are seen in miracle, and 
hence, nature cannot be truthfully said to 
contradict the miraculous.^ 

4. Men lau2:h at stories of anomalies, ^otab- 

. . surd, 

monstrosities, and separate, unrelated 
prodigies. Some regard the supernatural 
of the Bible as such. A more thorough 
and intelligent examination of the facts 
will reveal a significance in them, and a 
vital connection with the course of God's 
moral government of the world. 

5. In addition to the foregoing dis- Not human 
claimers, we shall show in the following mony 
pages that this supernaturalism is worthy ^°^®* 
of deepest consideration, and demands as- 
sent and belief from the fact that it has 

a more stable foundation than human testi- 
mony, which many assert to be its only sup- 
port. 

The supernatural of the Bible, therefore, 
has nothing irrational in it, and hence is 
not repulsive because of any unreasonable- 
ness. 

1 See Bowne, Philosophy of Theism, pp. 208-210. 



156 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Assump- 
tion ; 

God re- 
veals 
Himself. 



Presump- 
tion : 

He need 
not fol- 
low an 
even 
course. 



Illus- 
trated. 



11. Assumptions and Presumptions. 

The believer in the supernatural makes 
certain assumptions which men generally 
assent to. He assumes that there is a per- 
sonal living God; that this world, inani- 
mate and animate^ manifests God, it is the 
God-life in space and time; that in Jesus 
Christ the God-life in its fullest character 
centers; that Jesus Christ is the supreme 
agent in accomplishing God's purpose of 
self-manif estation ; and that the highest 
end of things is moral and spiritual, the 
physical being only an instrument in the 
hands of the moral and spiritual. 

Along with these assumptions will go 
the presumption that the God-life and the 
God-truth need not, in attaining their full 
manifestation, follow an even, regular 
course of development, but may for reasons 
evident to God, and perhaps later evident 
to men, come in power at times far beyond 
the usual. There will be the presumption 
that, on such extraordinary occasions, 
there will accompany the extraordinary 
infusion of life and truth into the world, 
outward manifestations of it. 

These presumptions are reasonable. 
History affords abundant illustrations. 
To refer to a recent one: Turkey did not 



IS. 



REASONABLE SUPERNATURALISM. I57 

inarch on in an even-tenored way towards 
liberty; in 1908 there was an onward 
bound. That was the God-life and truth 
extraordinarily infused into the Turks, 
and extraordinarily manifested. 

The supernatural is the " sign '^ or evi- What the 
dence of a special presence in power of natural 
God, who is always manifesting himself 
in gradually increasing proportions in this 
world. The Bible does not regard it as 
an interruption on the part of God from 
without the order of nature. It is that or- 
der itself at its highest, most like God. It 
is not nature's law violated, put aside, mod- 
ified. It is natural law combining activities 
which are filled out, distended. It is ten 
thousand volts of life where there were 
formerly but one thousand. It is a seg- 
ment of omniscience where there was for- 
merly but a faint streak of light. It will 
of necessity be accompanied by evidence of 
it in striking form. 

The Bible, then, properly understood 
shows the supernatural, not as an appen- 
dage, as a thing needing independent proof. 
The evidence, which proves the presence of 
life or truth in a greatly accentuated form, 
proves the supernatural which accompanied 



158 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

it. The connection between them is an 
inherent one. They stand or fall together. 
The Bible is filled with this super- 
natural. It is more than unobjectionable; 
it is absorbingly attractive. 

III. The Facts of the Supernatural. 

Fore. 1. Prophecy, the manifestation of the 

shadow- . 

ings. truth of God^ is seen in three forms. 

(1) There are foreshadowings of the 
facts of God's life and relations with men ; 
his provisions for men; and his expec- 
tations and requirements. 

a. In the typical characters and offices 
of the Old Testament, the Hebrews re- 
ceived intimations of the higher life. 
Moses, Aaron and Melchizedek bring a 
glimmer of the life of him, who as 
prophet, priest and king, revealed God in 
his fulness. 

h. In the typical rites and ceremonies 
in which the Jews were thought to en- 
gage, such as those of the Passover, Day 
of Atonement, etc., the truth concerning 
the sacrifice of God for man was set forth, 
involving the ideas of deliverance from 
punishment, expiation of guilt, and resto- 
ration to God's fellowship. 

c. In the typical structures and furni- 



REASONABLE SUPERNATURALISM. I59 

ture of the tabernacle and temple great 
spiritual facts were prefigured. The altar 
of sacrifice spoke of atonement; the laver, 
of cleansing and renewal; the altar of in- 
cense, of prayer ; the Shekinah glory, of the 
presence of Jehovah. 

d. In the typical events or scenes other 
great facts are set forth. Moses, making a 
covenant with God for his people, typifies 
Jesus Christ, the Mediator, interceding. 
Israel delivered from Egypt presents be- 
forehand the great world deliverance from 
the power of sin. Israel carried into Baby- 
lon speaks of judgment and punishment. 

e. In the typical precepts and prohibi- 
tions the law was the schoolmaster leading 
to the gospel life. 

A careful reading of the Epistle to the 
Hebrews will show the weight of truth in 
the types of the Old Testament.^ 

(2) Prophecy proper. 

Hebrew prophecy was animated by a 
wide outlook over the future, and a spirit- 
ual insight, which grasped the principles 
that shape the course of human destiny. 
Presentiments of the outcome of the dis- 
pensations of God pervade it. There were 
aspirations in the prophets which tran- 

^ See A. T. Pierson, Qod^s Living Oracles^ chap. vii. 



160 ^^^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

scended mere hopes, and grasped the truth 
of what really would be. All these things 
exceed the power of unassisted reason, and 
indicate a divine impartation of truth, be- 
yond the ordinary, at the prophetic period 
of the world's history.^ 

a. A Vision of a World-wide Kingdom. 
\ersal ^^^ Jews Were a narrow people, sepa- 

ciiurch. rated by training and prepossession from 
the Gentile world. The people generally 
were inflated by the belief that they were 
superior to others, being God's peculiar 
family; and that they alone would attain 
a glorious future. But the prophets swept 
all barriers away and raised the nations to 
a par with themselves. 

*' And it shall come to pass in the latter days, 
that the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be 
established on the top of the mountains, and shall 
be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow 
unto it" (Isa. 2:2); **And Jehovah shall be King 
over all the earth: in that day shall Jehovah be 
one, and his name one " (Zech. 14 : 9) ; * * For from the 
rising of the sun even unto the going down of the 
same my name shall be great among the Gentiles ; 
and in every place incense shall be offered unto my 
name, and a pure offering : for my name shall be 
great among the Gentiles, saith Jehovah of hosts " 
(Mai. 1:11).2 

1 See also Isa. 45 : 6, 22, 23; 49 : 6 ; 60:1, 2, 11; 66 : 23. Dan. 
2:44; Joel2:28; Mic.4:l,2. 

2 See Maitland, The Argument from Prophecy^ p. 50 ff. 



REASONABLE SUPERNATURALlSM. 



161 



h. The Agent of the Promise. 

All through the Old Testament, Israel 
is seen to be the instrument in God's hand 
for the redemption of the world. The 
agent is spoken of as a Seed, House, Son, 
King, Servant, Chosen One, etc. At one 
time Abraham is the agent; at another 
David; at another their descendants; at 
another the true believers in Israel; at 
another the reigning Davidic king; at 
another a great descendant of David; but 
always the agent is Israel or a representa- 
tive of Israel. 

The sufferings and character of the 
agent are dwelt on with emphasis. The 
sufferings are world-caused and vicarious.^ 

** He was despised, and rejected of men ; a man 
of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one 
from whom men hide their face he was despised ; 
and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne 
our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did 
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was 
bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our 
peace was upon him ; and with his stripes we are 
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we 
have turned every one to his own way ; and Jehovah 
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was 
oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not 
his mouth ; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter. 



Israel or 
her rep- 
resent- 
ative 
the agent 
of re- 
demp- 
tion. 



The suf- 
ferings 
and 

character 
of the 
agent 
proph- 
esied* 



* W. J. Beecher, The Prophets and the Promise, p. 284. 



162 ^J?^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so 
lie opened not his mouth " (Isa. 53: 3-7).^ 

The character of the agent is glowingly 
described. Generally the descriptions may 
be referred to the nation or some man who 
may represent it, but sometimes they can- 
not be affirmed either of the nation or any 
ordinary man, but are ideal.^ 

*' For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is 
given ; and the government shall be upon his 
shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonderful, 
Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince 
of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of 
peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of 
David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to 
uphold it with justice and with righteousness from 
henceforth even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of 
hosts will perform this" (Isa. 9:6, 7); "I saw in 
the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the 
clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he 
came even to the ancient of days, and they brought 
him near before him. And there was given him 
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the 
peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: 
his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which 
shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which 
shall not be destroyed " (Dan. 7 : 13, 14). 

Thefalfil- These prophecies were fulfilled in part 
in the prophets' day; they were cumula- 
tively fulfilled; and it was the conviction 

»See also Psalms 23, 118; Isa. 42, 49-52, 61; Dan. 9:24, 
27; Zech. 12:10; 13:7. 
SBeecher, The Prophets and the Promise^ p. 348. 



REASONABLE SUPEENATUEALISM. 163 

of the prophets that they would be eter- 
nally fulfilled. Israel would be forever 
the agent of God's redemptive purpose for 
mankind.^ These expectations have been 
and are being fulfilled. Israel, through 
the Jewish race, the Jewish religion and 
its daughter religions, Christianity and 
Islam, and above all through Jesus Christ, 
is the light of the world. Their prophecies 
of sufferings, of the agents' character, and 
even their ideal prophecies are fulfilled. 
Jesus is identified with the agent of the 
promise and is regarded as the culmi- 
native fulfilment of prophecy both by him- 
self and the writers of the New Testament. 
They find him in the Old Testament as the 
suffering and glorious servant that was to 
bring salvation to the world. And it can- 
not be said that this is doing violence to 
prophecy, for the prophets speak of an 
eternal fulfilment of the promise to Abra- 
ham, and a more glorious fulfilment in 
the future than ever in the past, by Israel 
or the representative of Israel. 

'No people but the Jews in any age of 
;the world ever regarded themselves as 
God's agent in redeeming the world, and 

> Ibid. p. 256. 



164 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Christian 
concep- 
tions. 



none but Israel can in any real sense be 
said to be such. 

c. The Note of the Gospel. 

The prophets leaped beyond their day 
in their conception of God. To them he 
was not racial or local, nor on a level with 
human weakness. " For my thoughts are 
not your thoughts, neither are your ways 
my ways, saith Jehovah. For as the heav- 
ens are higher than the earth, so are my 
ways higher than your ways, and my 
thoughts than your thoughts'' (Isa. 55: 
8, 9). They rose to spiritual conceptions 
of worship. To them mere outward sac- 
rifice or ritual was an abomination. True 
worship is a matter of pure heart and right- 
eousness. 

" Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, and 
bow myself before the high God ? shall I come 
before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year 
old? will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of 
rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ? shall I 
give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of 
my body for the sin of my soul ? He hath showed 
thee, O man, what is good ; and what doth Jehovah 
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kind- 
ness, and to walk humbly with thy God ? " (Mic. 
6:6-8).» 



iSee also 1 Sam. 15:22; Pss.40: 6-8; 50:7-10,13, 14, 23; 
51:16, 17; 55:6, 7;66;3; Hos. 6:6; Joel 2:13; Amos 
5:21-24. 



REASONABLE SUPERNATURALISM. 165 

They give us the doctrines of the gospel, 
at least in embryo. Individual responsi- 
bility, repentance, faith, forgiveness, and 
fellowship with God, are sketched with 
faithfulness. Such passages as Ezek. 18 ; 
Psalms 32 and 51; Isa. 57:15; Jer. 
31:31-33; Joel 2:28, 29, 32; Zech. ' 

12 : 10 show this. 

In this reaching out beyond their time. More than 
into ideas which would not be realized nor insight, 
thought generally, they display more than 
human insight. There is no such insight 
in mere man. The greatest inventions, 
and the greatest discoveries of scientific 
and philosophic truths were not made by 
men centuries in advance of their time. 
The great inventors were no more than 
abreast of many men of their day. The 
great discoverers were but a step ahead of 
their generation. This is shown by the in- 
ventions and discoveries of the first order 
made coincidently by men in different 
countries working independently. With- 
out a Bacon the world would have discov- 
ered the truth he gave it, and it would not 
have waited long. And, in addition to 
this, in the productions of human intellect 
there are limitation, incompleteness and 
lack of symmetry. They are soon out- 



166 ^^^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

grown. Whence, then, these prophetic 

truths, foreshadowings, and foregleams, 

so true to their fulfilment though uttered 

hundreds of years in advance, so universal 

and so undying? They are supernatural. 

(3) Predictions. 

Prophecy When one believes prophecy is super- 
includes - !.• Trv>i 1 

predic- natural, and it is dimcult to see now one 
*^°^^* can do otherwise, it will be easy to believe 
the individual predictions. The latter are 
parts of the former, when they have their 
moral and spiritual environment. They 
are striking incidents, which show the God- 
power of the whole prophetic movement. 
One's belief in the supernatural nature of 
the Bible's predictive prophecy would be 
strongly buttressed were he to take the sep- 
arate predictions concerning Tyre, Philis- 
tia, Babylon, Nineveh, etc., and see how 
history fulfils them; and were he, when 
doing it, to consider how improbable the 
exact fulfilment would be in view of the 
number of details, if they were the words 
of a mere fortune-teller, he would be still 
more persuaded of their divine origin.^ 
2. Miracles. 

The argument for the manifestation of 
the God-life is the same as for the mani- 

» See A. T. Pierson, God's Living Oracles^ Chaps, iv, v. 



REASONABLE SUPER NATURALISM. 167 

festation of the God-truth. The reasonable 
supernaturalism of prophecy and predic- 
tion we believe to be established. The like 
character of miracle can be now shown at 
shorter length. 

(1) Jesus Christ. 

In Jesus Christ there appeared in space Themira- 
and time the highest manifestation of godli- 
the God-life, — ^purity, meekness, kindness, ^®^®' 
unselfishness, patience, truthfulness, in- 
sight, self-sacrifice, service, majesty and 
holiness. There never appeared anyone 
on earth within measurable distance of 
him. With that character, he, at the same 
time, claims equality with God. His 
teachings are remarkable, beyond the pow- 
er of words to express adequately. He 
adjusts morality and religion exactly. 
He makes a practical application of the 
principles of righteousness to life and 
works without an error. His whole life, 
words and works were flawless. ITot only 
was he without fault, he was also full of 
active and positive life, — ^the life abundant 
in all its glory. 

He started a living influence in the Themira- 
world never before approached. Chris- Chris- 
tianity with its beneficent, uplifting, Canity, 
spreading and vast powers is farther from 



168 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE, 



The mira- 
cle of the 
world's 
prepara- 
tion. 



Sxplana- 
tion. 



the influences originated by other found- 
ers of religions than human creation could 
have put it. 

There was an antecedent preparation 
of the world for him. His surroundings 
were put in order for his advent. Roman 
political rule was wide, and knowledge of 
the Greek language was common; the one 
securing protection and means of travel, 
the other securing an audience everywhere, 
and both peoples giving to the world an 
exhibition of the futility of human en- 
deavor, when not lighted and led by God, 
in attaining to righteousness. 

What explains Jesus Christ ? !N"othing, 
if he is not the accentuated life of God in 
space and time. He is that God-life, 
which is being manifested in the world 
and in man slowly and by degrees ; but in 
him that life appeared in all its fulness. 
He was " the image of the invisible God," 
which man, at his present rate of mani- 
festing God, cannot reach for ages, if ever. 
That explains him. He was supernatural. 
'And he was supernatural that he might be 
God's effective agent, being God-man, in 
bringing God's great purpose of self-mani- 
festation to pass. 

Everything in connection with Jesus 



REASONABLE SUPERNATURALISM. jgg 

Christ we would now expect to have been 
supernatural, as they were. We no longer 
wonder at supernatural birth, knowledge, 
works and resurrection. They were 
" signs " of the God-life in its supreme, 
extraordinary manifestation. 

(2) Old Testament Miracles. 

How are we to explain Moses, Elijah, Old Testa- 
Daniel and the other men whose lives and 



men were 



works are so far in advance of their time, s^per- 

natural, 
and who appeared at crises in the history 

of the development of the manifestation 
of the God-life among men ? They are ex- 
plained only by assuming that in them 
God's life was revealed in greater power 
than usual. They were supernatural char- 
acters. The miracles they wrought were 
congruous with their characters. They 
were " signs." Of course, we must say 
that they were supernatural characters of 
a lower degree than that of Jesus Christ; 
but that the God-life shone through them 
in an extraordinary measure is evident. 
And their " miracles " were inherent parts 
of their supernatural life. 

3. Inspiration. 

In addition to the prophetic and mirac- 
ulous elements, we have in the writings 
of the Bible as a whole the supernatural. 



170 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

Belief in Here is a body of writings, which delves 
natural into such great problems of thought as the 
tiaa un^ being of God, the existence of sin, and 
avoid- the immortality of the sonl, and brings 
satisfaction to the mind. They are writ- 
ings which give truths, such, for example, 
as those concerning the Trinity, which are 
undiscoverable by human intelligence, yet 
which do not conflict with it; but are in 
harmony with the elementary truths, which 
are known by immediate experience. In 
this Book are promises, which could have 
come only from the spiritual land, because 
of their loftiness, and because of the con- 
solation they give when tried experimen- 
tally. It gives a full revelation of the 
character of God in Jesus Christ; and, in 
the earlier parts, though not so full, al- 
ways makes a portrait of him centuries in 
advance of the age in which it was written. 
The truths of the Bible, which refer to the 
spiritual life, never conflict with the deep- 
est experiences of the few rare souls in the 
van of God^s army, and provide an un- 
equaled ideal for the many who follow. 
There is a harmony of the various parts, 
and a binding of the spiritual life and 
truth of the Bible to historical facts, 
which shows the whole to have been heaven- 



REASONABLE SUPERNATURALISM. 171 

guided. The inspiration of the Bible is 
supernatural.^ 

Prophecy, miracle and inspiration do 
not seem to be a supernatural which is 
reasonable only, but one which is also pro- 
ductive of reverence. 

1 See Frank H. Foster in Bib, Sac^ vol. 52, pp. 69 fl. 232 fl. 



CHAPTER IX. 

MOTIVE POWER. 

Causes of There IS an authority which is outward, 
fluence." ^^^ ^Iso one which is inward. The Old 
Testament has an outward authority be- 
cause of the position given to it by Jesus 
and the apostles. Both the Old and New 
Testaments have an authority for us from 
the fact that the church, through all the 
Christian centuries has, both by common 
consent and the voice of its experts, pro- 
nounced them of supreme worth in all 
matters of faith and conduct. 

There is a higher power than the out- 
ward. It is the power of intrinsic worth. 
This is the power of insight, sincerity, 
earnestness, truth, goodness and love. On 
this inner worth of the Bible, its out- 
ward authority ultimately rests. 

The power of this excellence does not 

end in winning one's approval, confidence 

and affection; it goes beyond that. One 

cannot r«ad the Bible in an impersonal 

172 



MOTIVE POWER. I73 

way. He cannot hold it at a distance. Its 
character and contents lay hold of him in 
the most personal and vital way. It drives 
him in upon himself. Just as the sun 
melts the iceberg, lifts the vapor, and 
coaxes out the leaves, so the Bible softens, 
wins, and vivifies. 

The Holy Spirit is in the world leading 
men to live the life that was in Jesus 
Christ. The Word is his chief agent, and 
it works along the same lines, but more 
vitally, in which the world-teachers, the 
poets, work. 

I. It Worlcs Repentance. 

1. The great poets endeavor to awake Self-con- 
a feeling of self-condemnation in sinful tionls" 
men. They picture imoble men and wom- v^^o- 
en so vividly that their readers begin to 
measure themselves. The lagos, Guine- 
veres, Lancelots and lesser sinners are dis- 
turbed by the portraits. 

The reader of the Bible is made much 
more uneasy by what he reads than any 
reader of poetry. A mirror is held up 
before him in which he cannot fail to find 
himself. Sinful man is pictured from 
every possible angle. He is shown as a 
transgressor, who breaks the laws set up 



174 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

for his guidance in personal matters, and 
becomes vile, gluttonous, indolent, vain, 
covetous, etc. ; in relation towards others, 
and becomes unjust, harsh, ungenerous, 
jealous etc. ; in relation to God, and be- 
comes irreverent, unbelieving, cold and dis- 
obedient. He is portrayed as an omitter, 
squandering opportunities, neglectful of 
duties, and failing to attain to his or- 
dained end. In bold and vivid lines he is 
revealed as iniquitous, his mind perverted, 
his affections degraded, his will weak- 
ened, and his talents prostituted, all his 
faculties disorganized, and the springs of 
his life corrupted by his uncontrolled in- 
clinations and wicked ways. From Cain, 
" who slew his brother,'' to Diotrephes, 
^^who loveth to have the preeminence 
among them,'' sinners' portraits are hung 
in the long " rogues' gallery " of the Book. 
In " Becket " Tennyson says, 

" We are sinners all, 
The best of all not all prepared to die." 

The Bible proves it in detail. iNTo reader 
can escape coming under some part of its 
sweeping and searching condemnation. 
The ones who think themselves righteous 
are nevertheless sinners. The outwardly 



MOTIVE POWER. I75 

moral, guiltless of any gross misconduct, 
are under sentence. Those hitherto in- 
sensible of need find out their perilous 
plight " As it is written, There is none 
righteous, no, not one; .... They have 
all turned aside, they are together become 
"unprofitable; There is none that doeth 
good, no, not so much as one : . . . . for all 
have sinned, and fall short of the glory of 
God" (Eom. 3:10, 12, 23). The unbe- 
lievers, who do not bow to divine authority, 
and who foolishly choose this world to the 
next ; the evil thinkers, who hold as a sweet 
morsel the impure thought and the unholy 
imagination; the unforgiving, who keep 
the old grudge, and flay with scorn and 
backbiting ; the indifferent, reckless of holi- 
ness, heaven and happiness, are all in the 
broad way that leadeth to destruction, as 
certainly as are the murderers, adulterers, 
defrauders and robbers. Christians may 

■ strive to obey God, yet they, too, sin every 
day they live. '' Surely there is not a 

f righteous man upon earth, that doeth good, 
and sinneth not '' (Eccl. 7 : 20) ; " If we 
say that we have no sin, we deceive 
ourselves, and the truth is not in us " 
(1 John 1:8). The Commandments, 
the Psalms, the Prophecies, the Gospels, 



176 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

and the Epistles — the supreme court of the 
spiritual kingdom — ^pass the sentence upon 
every son and daughter of Adam, " Thou 
art weighed in the balances, and art found 
wanting'' (Dan. 5:27). 

The facts of original sin, heredity. 
Ignorance, infirmity and environment are 
considered, and allowance made in view of 
them, but they are not a sufficient excuse 
for sin. At the most they are but occasions 
for, or contributory causes of, sin. The 
efficient cause is in the will of the sinner, 
and that holds every one responsible for 
his own sins. The Word of God brushes 
away all excuses and fixes the guilt upon 
the evil-doer. See Ezek. 18. 

This does not say that one is not held to 
be, in some measure, responsible for an- 
other's sins, if his actions produced the 
occasion or temptation for that other's evil 
doing. The very opposite is the teaching 
of Scripture. A man is held responsible, 
not only for his own sin, but for the evil 
effects which follow from it; and for the 
eternally increasing blight upon the lives 
of growing multitudes which issues from 
it. Every sinner can see himself with an 
inverted pyramid of sins resting upon him 
for every sin, even the smallest, which he 



clear. 



MOTIVE POWER. 177 

ever committed; and these pyramids for- 
ever growing in weight, and forever spread- 
ing evil consequences more and more upon 
a burdened world. 

2. In "The Ring and the Book/' Thesinfai- 
Browning shows the true nature of sin, and g^^g 
Tennyson does the same in the " Idyls of ^^^® 
the King.'' They suggest the foulness, in- 
iquity, bitterness and miserable conse- 
quences of sin, to make it forbidding. And 
they gain their end. Hatred for sin de- 
velops in the soul that is in sympathy with 
them. 

In the Bible, in much stronger and more 
pointed words of derision, denunciation 
and judgment^ the sinfulness of the wicked 
is condemned. The sinners are likened to 
slaves, blind men, lepers, dogs and silly 
sheep. They are like the " kine of Ba- 
shan," " the beasts that perish." They 
are feeders on husks, and " whitened sepul- 
chres '' all foul within. They are suffer- 
ing from the dropsical swellings of pride, 
the paralysis of the will, the malaria of the, 
heart, and the tuberculosis of the character. 
They are in a state of delirium, not recog- 
nizing the awful risks they are taking, the 
glorious opportunities they are refusing, 
and the seraphic music and heavenly land- 



178 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

scape they are missing. Sinful man is 
held up as the blackest monster of the 
world. He polluted Eden, befouled the 
immortal nature of the race, blasted 
the world and crucified the Christ. His 
sin is an abomination in the sight of God, 
and its wages is death. " The wicked 
shall be turned into hell, and all the nations 
that forget God'' (Ps. 9:17); "For 
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 
also reap'' (Gal. 6:7). 
Judgment 3, The poets call attention to the judg- 
vealed. ment upon sin which brings punishment in 
the present. Thej endeavor also to awake 
a feeling of 

** Time flowing in the middle of tlie night, 
And all things creeping to a day of doom." 

Tennyson, in " The Vision of Sin," shows 
divine retribution slowly gathering, — 

** God made himself an awful rose of dawn 
Unheeded : and detaching, fold 'bj fold, 
From those still heights, and, slowly drawing 

near, 
A vapor heavy, hueless, formless, cold, 
Came floating on for many a month and year, 

Unheeded." 

The little maid in '' Guinevere " sings 
solemnly, 



MOTIVE POWER. 179 

" Late, late, so late! and dark the night and chill ! 
Late, late, so late ! but we can enter still. 
Too late, too late ! ye cannot enter now. 

No light had we : for that we do repent ; 
And learning this the bridegroom will relent. 
Too late, too late ! ye cannot enter now. 

No light: so late I and dark and chill the night! 
O let us in, that we may find the light ! 
Too late, too late ! ye cannot enter now. 

Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet ? 
O let us in, though late, to kiss his feet ! 
Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now." 

This motive of fear is a proper one to 
use, and sanely used is a good corrective. 
The Bible reveals the inflexible justice of 
God. He desires and orders that all men's 
thoughts, words and deeds, that their whole 
life, be in harmony with holiness. Fail- 
ure on man's part brings its own reward 
of ruin. God's firmness is not vindictive- 
ness. Fire comforts ; but, crossed, it burns. 
Electricity serves; but, crossed, it deals a 
death-shock. Holiness perfects ; but, 
crossed, it shrivels and destroys the soul. 
The certainty of retribution for sin glares 
out from every part of the Bible. It re- 
minds men of a constant reckoning of their 
good and evil doings; and, in addition, 
its trumpet tones call their attention to a 
day on which an awful tribunal will be 



180 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Shows 
tinat- 
tained 
possibili- 
ties. 



inaugurated. With terrible dashes it por- 
trays the approach of doom, and the assem- 
bled culprits before the bar of God. The 
Judge, impartial, omniscient and omnipo- 
tent is on the throne, and the books are 
opened. " We must all be made manifest 
before the judgment-seat of Christ; that 
each one may receive the things done in the 
body, according to what he hath done, 
whether it be good or bad '' (2 Cor. 5 : 10) ; 
'' Whose fan is in his hand, and he will 
thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and 
he will gather his wheat into the garner, 
but the chaff he will burn up with un- 
quenchable fire'' (Matt. 3: 12).^ 

4. The possibilities of knowledge, char- 
acter and work, which man is capable of 
attaining to, is a strong motive with the 
poets. Tennyson makes Maud's lover long 

'* And all for a man to arise in me, 
That the man I am may cease to be." 

The Bible uses this motive with tre- 
mendous power. It brings the readers 
face to face with their Maker, who is 
" glorious in holiness ; '' who is " of purer 
eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look 

1 On the General Judgment see Matt. 25 ; Lk. 13 ; 
Acts 2: 19-21; 2 Pet. 3:7-12; Jude 14, 15; Rev. 6:15-17; 
20:11-15. On the basis of judgment see Ezek. 18; Lk. 
12 : 47. 48 ; 13 : 6-9 ; 19 : 12-27 ; John 3 : 19, 20 ; 15 : 22-24 ; Rom. 
8 : 5-13 ; 1 Cor. 3 : 8-15 ; Gal. 6 : 5-10 ; Heb. 10 : 26-30. 



MOTIVE POWER. Igj 

on iniquity ; '^ and then urges " Ye shall 
be holy; for I Jehovah your God am 
holy'' (Lev. 19:2); ^^ Ye therefore shall 
be perfect, as your heavenly Father is 
perfect'' (Matt. 5:48); '^ But like as he 
who called you is holy, be ye yourselves 
also holy in all manner of living " ( 1 
Pet. 1: 15). Not only the explicit state- 
ments impress this, but also the examples 
of saintly men and women who walked 
with God. 

The Bible makes God's goodness and Motive 
mercy, and one's own higher possibilities, thr^'^^ 
but present sinful condition, so real; and vision, 
the firmness of God and certain punish- 
ment for sin so evident, that repentance is 
brought on. Sin assumes its real charac- 
ter and is seen in all its blackness; and it 
is heartily hated and renounced. The 
effects of sin on others appear in their de- 
structive and cumulative character; and 
the soul is filled with remorse, sorrow and 
the desire to make restitution. The weak- 
ness and corruption of the heart, which 
make one the slave of sin and an ingrate 
towards God, become manifest, creating 
self-reproach and humility, and causing 
him to cry out, ^^ I acknowledge my trans- 
gressions: and my sin is ever before me. 



182 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

{Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and 
done this evil in thy sight : that thou might- 
est be justified when thou speakest, and be 
clear v^hen thou judgest " (Ps. 51: 3, 4).^ 

II. It works Faith. 

The poets are right in using motives 
other than those which will aid in making 
the sinner penitent. The one in sin cannot 
be fully lifted out of it until he sees that 
he is loved. That alone implants the trust 
that removes the feeling of guilt and be- 
stows peace and confidence. It was Ar- 
thur's love that completed Guinevere's re- 
demption. Browning pictures David play- 
ing for Saul, but it was not the soft and 
dreamy tune he used to play to the sheep 
at folding time; not the seductive strains 
which used to entrance the birds and wild 
animals; not those songs which spoke of 
fellowship, work, death and marriage; of 
life's tears and triumphs; of fame and in- 
fluence; but the song of God's love, as re- 
vealed in the incarnate Saviour that could 

" snatch Saul the mistake, 
Saul the failure, the ruin he seems now, — and bid 
him awake." 

* See Leonard Woods, Literary and Theological Review ^ 
vol. 1, pp. 400 ff. 



MOTIVE POWER. 183 

'* O Saul it shall be 
A face like my face that receives thee ; a Man like 

to me, 
Thou Shalt love and be loved by, forever : a Hand 

like this hand 
Shall throw open the gates of new life to thee ! See 

the Christ stand ! " 

When the Bible is producing repentance, 
it is at the same time causing faith to 
spring up, and this by means of the vision 
of God's love which it burns into the soul. 
Indeed to be precise one must say that the 
love as well as the holiness of God pro- 
duces repentance, and the holiness as well 
as the love produces faith. 

1. The love of God is shown in His Shows 
long-suffering towards Israel. They re- patient 
belled in the Wilderness, turned to idol- ^^ve. 
atry in Canaan, disregarded the prophets, 
played the flatterer to the Babylonian 
ruler, yet they were not cast off. 

The history of individuals shows the 
same thing. Given opportunities for de- 
velopment and service by God, they 
reached, at the best, but a partial growth. 
To many of his servants he gave great tal- 
ents, but they were often disused or di- 
verted from their proper use. Many were 
tyrannical, hideously criminal and degrad- 
ingly selfish. Many more were bitter op- 



184 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

ponents of his servants. But for each and 
all of them there was a patient waiting. 
Balaam, who prostituted his great talents; 
his servant David, who shamefully trans- 
gressed ; and Saul, who persecuted the fol- 
lowers of Christ, were not forsaken. The 
hundreds, who doubted, who threw away 
their opportunities, who resisted God's ap- 
peals, and whose history is recorded in the 
Bible, but emphasize that which he is most 
anxious men should feel — the long-suffer- 
ing of God. The saints of Scripture insist 
that they have experienced it. And God 
himself declares, " For my name's sake 
will I defer mine anger, and for my praise 
will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not 
ofi'' (Isa. 48:9). 

Shows 2. ArgTiment and illustration are ex- 

God's ^ 

gifts. hausted in the appeal to sinners to behold 
the grace of God. 

The bountiful provisions of nature are 
his gifts, and they are bestowed regardless 
of merit. The sins of men do not stop 
his love, and cause him to withhold his 
treasures. " He maketh his sun to rise on 
the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain 
on the just and on the unjust " (Matt. 5 : 
45). 

One of the great burdens of Scripture is 



MOTIVE POWER. 185 

the message of the nearness of God. ITo 
mountain of good deeds and ceremonies 
has to be climbed before he can be reached. 
He does not wait to be coaxed, cajoled or 
placated before he draws near. He is 
within men. " For in him we live, and 
move, and have our being '' (Acts 17 : 28). 

God gives new life to men. He enlight- 
ens the dark, cleanses the foul, ennobles the 
mean, mends the broken, straightens the 
crooked, restores the sick and brings home 
the lost. None is so degraded that he can- 
not lift, and none so prodigal that he is not 
anxious to banquet. He takes men not 
only out of the pit and the miry clay, but 
also out of respectable worldliness. 

3. The Bible does not reveal God as a Reveals 
cold Being who is indifferent to the sins of atone- 
men. He is everywhere represented as ^®^*' 
One who feels the sins of the world. By 
figurative language and in other ways his 
sorrow, anguish and compassion are made 
manifest, and his hatred of sin revealed. 
But rising above his suffering, and his 
hatred for sin are his actual, triumphant 
struggle against sin, and his confidence of 
ultimate victory. 

In these aspects of atoning love God ap- 
pears from the first. These attitudes be- 



186 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Pardon 
and as- 
surance 
testified 
to. 



come clearer and clearer, until at last they 
are seen in all their fulness and power in 
the mangled brow, the pierced side and the 
bleeding hands and feet of Christ on Cal- 
vary. 

4. The love of God is so generous and 
magnanimous that he forgives the past sins 
of his children who come to him, and ban- 
ishes them into oblivion. Upon their re- 
pentance and faith, which he graciously 
propagates in them by his atonement, he 
remits and pardons without dragging his 
justice in the dust. And not only does he 
pardon, but he bestows the assurance of 
being pardoned, which brings '' the peace 
of God, which passeth all understanding." 
All the saints concur with the Psalmist in 
his testimony, 



He hath not dealt with us after our sins, 

Nor rewarded us after our iniquities. 

For as the heavens are high above the earth, 

So great is his lovingkindness toward them that 

fear him. 
As far as the east is from the west, 
So far hath he removed our transgressions from 

us." (Ps. 103:10-12.) 



God's invi- 5^ jjjg lons^-sufferinar and atonement 

tation . 

an- God impresses upon the world with all 

nonnced. earnestness and anxiety, both by word and 



MOTIVE POWER. 187 

example. His forgiveness of sins and gifts 
of life he proffers to all, and urges with 
divine sincerity and yearning. With invi- 
tations loud, repeated and loving he calls 
to every human being without exception. 

** Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy, 
and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without 
money and without price " (Isa. 55: 1). 

** Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest " (Matt. 11 : 28). 

*' And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And 
he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is 
athirst, let him come : he that will, let him take 
the water of life freely " (Rev. 22 : 17). 

The full vision of God's love given in Motive 
the Bible is irresistible, it works faith. It ^^^^ ° 
instils in men unbounded confidence in vision, 
him who is mighty and willing to save. 
The fortress of the soul is surrendered. 
The weight of guilt, which mere works 
could not lift, is removed. There comes a 
peace within through the trust that he 
will nullify or control the effects of past 
sins on others. Joy reigns in the assur- 
ance that he will keep the faithful forever. 

" O Jehovah of hosts, 
Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee" (Ps. 
84:12). 



188 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

III. It Works Righteousness. 

The righteous life, which the great po- 
etic seers inspire, is the large life, which is 
in tune with the worthy finite, and thus 
^' in tune with the infinite ; " the serene and 
optimistic life which is conscious of the 
" murmurs and scents of the infinite sea " 
and which can say, 

" See ! In the rocks of the world 
Marches the host of mankind, 
A feeble, wavering line. 
Where are they tending? — A God 
Marshaird them, gave them their goal ; " 

the helpful life which desires, 

** Let me live in a house by the side of the road, 
And be a friend to man." 

The Word of God is the great instrument 
for the animating and vitalizing influence 
of the divine on character. A new habit 
of life develops contemporaneously with 
the development of repentance and faith. 
'As the old is being put off the new is being 
put on. 
Worship. 1^ Xhe sympathetic reader is con- 
strained to give to God the place which is 
rightly his. He venerates him as the Un- 
changeable, Eternal, Almighty and Holy; 
above the things which he has made; the 



MOTIVE POWER. 189 

Source and the End of all. He sets him 
apart from the forces of the world ; he is a 
Person, feeling, obeying, commanding, exe- 
cuting, wise, just, good and true. God is 
in the movements of nations, races and in- 
stitutions producing progress in law, serv- 
ice, culture and morals. The great experi- 
ences of the individual, his holier activi- 
ties and his loftier states are due to the 
presence of God permeating his life. The 
Scriptures in every part build upon a spirit 
of reverence for the holy God, the Infinite, 
Unseen and Ineffable. 

This reverence finds direct outward ex- 
pression in praise, prayer and Bible-study. 
The loftiness, beauty, strength and heart 
of God are so overpowering that, instinct- 
ively, the reader's lips frame words of 
adoration. The psalmists, prophets and 
apostles, in company with the hosts of 
heaven, are so constant and so fervent, that 
he is swept into harmony with them as 
they hymn their anthems to Jehovah's 
glory. The nearness of God is made so 
manifest that he is drawn into contact with 
the living fountain of force, life, morals 
and spirit, in a filial attitude of receptivity, 
longing and expectancy. He is filled with 
love and holy fear in the presence of life in 



190 ^^-^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

man and nature. The first glimpses are 
so entrancing, and the first taste so sweet, 
that the Bible makes itself his daily por- 
tion; and as the days go by his faithful 
guide in all matters of truth and righteous- 
ness. 

Creed. 2. A connected system of fundamental 

truths quietly but firmly takes root in the 
mind of every Bible student. The great 
essentials which determine attitudes and 
acts are stamped upon the mind, and built 
up into its every fibre. Eoom is left for 
differences upon matters of mere opinion, 
but there is a warp of principles, plain and 
incontestable, upon which the web of good 
life is woven. In no obscure portion, the 
interpretation of which may be questioned, 
but on every page, and as clear as day, are 
the ever recurring ideas of the sinfulness 
of all men, the need of forbearance, grace, 
forgiveness and renewal, the possibilities 
of manhood, the holiness and love of God, 
the fact of divine help, obligation to God 
and man, the transcience of the present, 
the permanence of the future, and the con- 
tinuity of character. 

Conduct. 3. Paul, in bidding farewell to the eld- 

ers of Ephesus, said, '' And now I com- 
mend you to God, and to the word of his 



MOTIVE POWER. 191 

grace, which is able to build you up, and to 
give you the inheritance among all them 
that are sanctified " (Acts 20 : 32). Writ- 
ing to Timothy, he asserts that the Scrip- 
tures make a man " furnished completely 
unto every good work" (2 Tim. 3:17). 
Our Lord, praying for his disciples, said, 
^' Sanctify them in the truth : thy word is 
truth" (John 17: 17). Because of intel- 
lectual powers quickened, mental associ- 
ations enriched, imagination kindled, judg- 
ment broadened, and executive energy of 
the will stimulated, the new man is won- 
derfully helped in self-government, self- 
direction and self-attainment. The noble 
ideal, of life revolving about a centre out- 
side of self, awakens the dormant spirit of 
self-sacrifice, and drives him into every 
enterprise calculated to better the world, 
making of him a sheltering rock and an 
ark-bearer in the flood. The passive vir- 
tues of endurance, patience, forgiveness 
and meekness, wrought also by the Bible, 
work beneficent influences on his fellows, 
and rank him with the immortals. ■•■ 

In the production of this life of reverent Impressive 
worship, sound doctrine, and good conduct, ^l 



exam- 
iles. 



1 See on " Righteousness " W. R. Harper, Religion and 
the Higher Life, chap. xi. 



men. 



192 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

the admonitions of the Bible against sin 
are strongly buttressed by the repulsive 
acts of its notorious evil-doers. Its right- 
eous precepts are mightily supported by the 
examples of its towering characters. 
Wicked Two lives v^recked by sin v^e call atten- 

tion to for illustration. 

The first is King Saul. Brightness, 
courage, hope and happiness mark his be- 
ginning; his career closes in melancholy, 
gloom, suspicion, envy and distraction. 
From the summit of greatness and power, 
this richly-gifted youth tumbles down into 
a gulf of wreckage and ruin. Beginning 
in the shepherd's cot, he passes to the king's 
palace, and then his life ends a miserable 
suicide amid the clang of battle. His 
memory is a monument of the devastation 
wrought by self-sufficiency, impatience, 
and disobedience. 

The second is Haman. In this man, one 
of the blackest characters of the Old Testa- 
ment, there is raised an eternal finger of 
warning against the so-regarded simple sin 
of vanity. The awful evolution of that sin 
in character, and its disastrous issue, are 
revealed in the life of Haman. From 
vanity there arose jealousy; jealousy pro- 
duced hatred; hatred developed into mal- 



Motive power 19^: 

ice ; and malice, leaping beyond all bounds, 
was brought up with a jerk by the moral 
order of things, which says to sin, ^' Thus 
far but no farther.'' 

From the long list of worthies, whose Uprigiit 
lives give such a charm to the Book, we 
select but a few. 

Moses looms up above his generation, 
and forever stands as an inspiration for 
succeeding ages. Here was a mature, edu- 
cated and capable man who forsook the lux- 
uries, refinements and magnificence of the 
imperial palace, at the call of duty, honor 
and patriotism. He chose, in preference 
to ease, pleasure and softness, the life that 
demanded endurance. All his great powers 
were given to the task of creating a godly 
nation. And God, whose presence he so 
wonderfully enjoyed, at last miraculously; 
took him. 

IvTehemiah, patriotic, prayerful, prudent 
and positive, as he creates national enthusi- 
asm, roots out internal dissensions, drives 
back the attacks of enemies, and coura- 
geously rebuilds Jerusalem, men are forced 
to admire and emulate. 

Daniel, whose wisdom led him to behold 
God's hand in the glorious past of Israel; 
whose holy insight led him to hear the 



194: "J^^E MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

songs of praise arise again from the sacred 
heights of Zion; whose courage and in- 
tegrity made him see the ruler's demand 
as wicked, and made him scorn to do him 
homage, puts trust and daring into every 
one who knows him. 

Time would fail to speak of Abraham, 
Joseph, David, Paul, John and many more 
whose names are great, and the numberless 
nameless ones. One is thrilled with holy 
virtues by such men as Gideon's three hun-^ 
dred, who " stood, every man in his place,'^ 
and who were " faint, yet pursuing '^ 
( Judg. 7, 8) ; by David's " mighty men of 
valor, men trained for war, that could 
handle shield and spear ; whose faces were 
like the faces of lions, and they were as 
swift as the roes upon the mountains 
.... had understanding of the times, 
. . • . could set the battle in array .... 
and were not of double heart '' (1 Chron. 
12) ; and by those who ^^had trial of mock- 
ings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds 
and imprisonment : they were stoned, they 
were sawn asunder, they were tempted, 
they were slain with the sword : they went 
about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being 
destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (of whom the 



MOTIVE POWER. 195 

world was not worthy) '^ . . . (Heb. 
11:36-38). 

Thus by living illustrations the Bible 
draws men away from sin, and powerfully 
works in them a life of righteousness. 



CHAPTEK X. 

COMFOET. 

Pain of body, mind and heart, mis- 
fortune and death are universal experi- 
ences. That which proves to be an anti- 
dote or a relief is always regarded as a 
boon. Of these the Bible is chief. Ernest 
Penan called it "the consolation of hu- 
manity.'' Paul recognized one of its main 
features when he spoke of the " comfort of 
the Scriptures'' (Pom. 15:4). For sev- 
eral thousand years, generation after gen- 
eration have found here the waters of rest, 
whose gentle murmurs quell every fearsome 
agitation, soothe every painful pang, and 
reduce to harmony all conflicting thoughts. 

I. When Sin Weighs Heavily. 

The crush- When one sees God's holiness over 
mg sense 
of sin. against his own sinfulness; the unclean 

generation about him in need, and the little 

he has done for them; the possibilities of 

self unattained, his opportunities squan- 

196 



COMFORT. 197 

dered, his ordained end unfulfilled; and 
the woful and increasing effects of his evil 
deeds on others, beyond his control, the 
sense of sin comes crushingly. An un- 
quenchable fire and an undying worm for- 
ever burn and gnaw within. The ghosts 
of memory haunt the trembling sinner. 
Every Herod looks for a return of a John 
the Baptist, and every Macbeth's hands 
are red with blood. Recourse may be had 
to the inebriating cup, the maddening 
whirl of pleasure, or the frenzy of finance, 
but there will be no lasting peace. Weep- 
ing will be renewed, and the gnashing of 
teeth will continue. 

The Bible is the only channel of relief. Trne re- 
Through it the sinner learns of atonement, 
repentance, faith, reconciliation, peace and 
joy. It holds out an offer of God's par- 
doning mercy for even the worst of sin- 
ners. There is held up from first to last 
the vision of a God, " who forgiveth all 
thine iniquities; .... Who crowneth 
thee with lovingkindness and tender mer- 
cies '' (Ps. 103 : 3, 4). It holds up a Medi- 
ator between God and men, " whom God 
set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, 
in his blood, to show his righteousness be- 
cause of the passing over of the sins done 



198 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

aforetime, in the forbearance of God " 
(Kom. 3 : 25) ; " who was delivered up for 
our trespasses, and was raised for our justi- 
fication'' (Eom. 4:25); who "while we 
were yet sinners . . . • died for us '' 
(Eom. 5:8); who " since . . • . the chil- 
dren are sharers in flesh and blood, .... 
also himself in like manner partook of the 
same ; that through death he might bring to 
nought him that had the power of death, 
that is, the devil; and might deliver all 
them who through fear of death were all 
their lifetime subject to bondage '' (Heb. 
2 : 14, 15) ; who " once at the end of the 
ages hath he been manifested to put away 
sin by the sacrifice of himself '' (Heb. 9 : 
26). There is unimpeachable testimony 
brought forward as to God's love for all 
men; his anxiety for their salvation; his 
ready forgiveness of the sins of every peni- 
tent and trusting soul; and his gentle res- 
toration of every wrecked and ruined life. 
The repeated declarations work them- 
selves into the most sin-tortured spirit, and 
bring a soothing, because a healing, balm. 

" Come now, and let us reason together, saith 
Jehovah : though your sins be as scarlet, they shall 
be as white as snow; though they be red like 
crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isa. 1:18); '*I 



COMFORT. 199 

have redeemed thee; I have called thee. ... I 
will be with thee. . . I have loved thee. . . I 
will bring thy seed .... and gather thee" (Isa. 
43: 1-5); " I am he that blotteth out thy transgres- 
sions" (Isa, 43:25); "Behold,! have graven thee 
upon the palms of my hands" (Isa. 49:16); "If 
any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink " 
(John 7:37); "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou 
Shalt be saved, thou and thy house " (Acts 16 : 31). 



These confident assertions, sent forth to 
all men without discrimination create a 
faith-prodncing trust in God, which brings 
peace. 

And, to add to the comfort of him who 



has been relieved of the burden of sin, the 
Bible extends the assurance that the for- 
giving God is also a keeping and a present 
God. 

** My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Cor. 12:9); 
** And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end 
of the world" (Matt. 28:20); " Who shall separate 
us from the love of Christ ? shall tribulation, or 
anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or 
peril, or sword ? . . . Nay, in all these things we 
are more than conquerors through him that loved 
us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor 
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things 
present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, 
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to 
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord " (Rom. 8:35, 37-39). 



Asstir- 
ance. 



200 ^^^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

II. In the Anguish of Anxiety. 
^^^ .^, 1- The larder is almost empty, the chil- 

earthly , r jy 

goods. dren are sick, and work is hard to find. 
The father is almost frantic, with the fear 
of the pinch of poverty, and starvation. 
It may be an old man who cannot work, 
whose support is gone, and who faces the 
chills of winter. His heart fills with dread 
as the days pass. Perhaps it is a growing 
maiden, whose spirit fails at the report of 
her father's bankruptcy, with its prospect 
of coming penury. Or perchance it is a 
man engrossed in business concerns who 
cannot sleep nights, worrying over his vast 
interests, and the risks of losing them. To 
one and all of the great host of men, 
women and children, who are suffering in 
their anxiety over earthly goods, the Bible 
can be a comfort. 

" The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; 
But they that seek Jehovah shall not want any 
good thing" (Ps. 34:10). 

" I have been young, and now am old; 
Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, 
Nor his seed begging bread " (Ps. 37 : 25). 

*' Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for 
your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; 
nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not 
the life more than the food, and the body than the 
raiment ? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they 



COMFORT. 201 

sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into 
barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. 
Are not ye of much more value than they ? And 
which of you by being anxious can add one cubit 
imto the measure of his life? And why are ye 
anxious concerning raiment ? Consider the lilies of 
the field, how they grow ; they toil not, ^icHher do 
they spin : yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in 
all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But 
if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which 
to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall 
he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ? 
Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we 
eat ? or, What shall we drink ? or. Wherewithal 
shall we clothed ? For after all these things do the 
Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth 
that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye 
first his kingdom, and his righteousness ; and all 
these things shall be added unto you. Be not 
therefore anxious for the morrow : for the morrow 
will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day 
is the evil thereof.'' (Matt. 6 : 25-34.) 

2. Conscientious men and women are Concern- 
frequently in great anxiety concerning ^^^t^^^' 
habits of theirs, or certain acts, or contem- 
plated doings. The Scriptures lay down 
general principles for our guidance, and 
there are in it sufficient detailed examples 
to enable people to walk uprightly. There 
are comprehensive discussions of all vital 
courses of action; such, for example, as 
those on love (1 Cor. 13), on giving (2 
Cor. 8 and 9), on faith (Heb. 11 and 12), 



202 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

and on speecli (James 3). In the Sermon 
on the Mount different virtues are made 
plain. Everywhere in the Bible the su- 
premacy of the things of the spirit to the 
things of the flesh is insisted on. Pleas- 
ure, wealth, etc., are secondary, but they 
are not to be disregarded. The example of 
the life of Jesus is a corrective for 
over-asceticism. His commands inculcate 
shrewdness as well as piety ; a masterly use 
of all the world's resources instead of a 
monastic attitude towards them. (Luke 
16: 8, 9). The reader will not have much 
difficulty in finding the course of conduct 
to follow which will allow peace of mind. 
Man is not 3. The invention of the telescope has 
cause the ^^^^ followed by great changes in the ideas 
earth is. q£ men regarding the earth. It is no more 
the centre of the universe. It is but a small 
planet, in a small system, out upon the rim 
of creation. With this change of view, 
there has with many been a consequent dis- 
turbance of theological conceptions. Men 
ask, " Of what importance are the creatures 
which live on a little spot of earth on the 
far frontier of things ? Can it be possible 
that God would bother about them so much 
as to send his Son to live as one of them 
in that distant, insignificant part for over 



COMFORT. 203 

thirty years ? '' To men thus disturbed 
the Bible brings a satisfying answer. Man 
is worth while, wherever he dwells. The 
decline in the earth's importance does not 
carry with it a decline in man's supremacy. 

'* When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy 

fingers, 
The moon and the stars, which thou hast 

ordained ; 
What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? 
And the son of man, that thou visitest him ? 
For thou hast made him but little lower than 

God, 
And crownest him with glory and honor. 
Thou makest him to have dominion over the 

works of thy hands ; 
Thou hast put all things under his feet : 
All sheep and oxen, 
Yea, and the beasts of the field. 
The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, 
Whatsoever passe th through the paths of the 

seas.'' (Ps. 8:3-8.) 

**The Spirit himself beareth witness with our 
spirit, that we are children of God : and if children, 
then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with 
Christ ; if so be that we suffer with him that we 
may be also glorified with him " (Rom. 8 : 16, 17). 

'* Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is 
not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know 
that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like 
him." .... (lJohn3:2.) 

4. The relation of God to evil is a God is not 

p , . tarnished 

question oi sore perplexity to many who by evil. 



204 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

love him. They are afraid that the ex- 
istence of sin in the world involves his 
holiness, and brings a tarnish npon it. 
The Word of God describes the world as 
the best possible world, '^ And God saw 
everything that he had made, and, behold, 
it was very good '^ (Gen. 1 : 31). The evil 
was not made by God. He is shown in 
every age, and among every people, as 
hating it, helping men against it, and striv- 
ing to have men destroy it. It is revealed 
as a concomitant of freedom in limited, 
human beings. A way of triumph over it, 
through the grace of God, is indicated. 

Faith has 5. gfiU another matter, which causes 
a cure . , 

for the grave anxiety, is the apparent inequalities 

inequali- ^^ ^^^* ^^^ questions are boldly stated in 
ties. Job, the Psalms and Ecclesiastes. Why do 
the righteous suffer and the wicked pros- 
per? Why are not the sinful recom- 
pensed ? These questions are asked to-day 
with as much earnestness as in those days. 
The Bible brings peace here too. The 
element of faith is brought to bear upon 
men, so that the appearances of life are 
reversed in the light and perspective of 
eternity. Suffering is transformed into a 
discipline for greater glory. 



COMFORT. 205 

'* Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: 
Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the 

Almighty. 
For he maketh sore, and bindeth up ; 
He woundeth and his hands make whole" 
(Job. 5:17,18).i 

Inequalities which continue through this 
life will be balanced by rewards and retri- 
butions in the next. God is powerful and 
just and loving. Mutual burden-bearing, 
and suffering because of others^ are in- 
escapable in earthly society. They may be 
blessings in disguise. But the individual 
will bear his own burden at the last, and 
ultimately all will be well. 

III. When Bore Pressed hy the World. 

1. There come times when the threat- Oiit^ard 

misfor- 
ened circumstances of misfortune, which tune. 

cause in men the anguish of anxiety, actu- 
ally develop into fact. Men lose all their 
possessions. The 107th Psalm is a boon 
to all such. How rich the Scriptures are 
in words of solace ! There is no book like 
it in its power to inspire hope for better 
days. 

" When thou passest through the waters, I will 
be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not 

* See for fuller discussion of the subject of aflaiction, 
Job 33 : 19-28 ; 36 : 8-10 ; Heb. 12 ; 5-13; 1 Pet. 4 : 12-19. 



206 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Tempta- 
tion. 



Severer 
persecu- 
tions. 



overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, 
thou Shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame 
kindle upon thee" (Isa. 43:2). 

** For though the fig-tree shall not flourish, 
Neither shall fruit be in the vines ; 
The labor of the olive shall fail. 
And the fields shall yield no food ; 
The flock shall be cut off from the fold, 
And there shall be no herd in the stalls: 
Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, 
I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. 
3:17, 18). 

2. The Saviour found in God^s word 
a foil for the tempter. " It is written " 
was the counter-thrust that reached the Sa- 
tanic vitals. One of the necessary parts of 
the Christian armor, which Paul men- 
tioned, was " the sword of the Spirit, which 
is the Word of God.'^ It is a powerful 
and effective aid against temptations of all 
kinds. It never fails in stilling the 
tempest. 

3. The Bible affords comfort for men 
who are persecuted by their fellow men. 

When believers suffer for their beliefs 
their only source of comfort is the Word. 
The second is " a psalm of good heart in 
hard times." It was used by the apostles ; 
sung at the siege of Jerusalem; a favorite 
hymn in the First Crusade; found by 
Athanasius to be ^^ a trumpet call against 



COMFORT. 207 

the enemies of the faith ; '' and recited 
by Savonarola when Florence was in 
her greatest peril. ^ The experiences of 
such men in Old Testament times as 
Joseph and Daniel, and their heroic 
endurance, will give moral sinews, that 
enable a man to stand fast. The ex- 
ample of Jesus in his trial and crucifixion 
has always been the supreme support of his 
followers, making of the rack a downy bed. 
It so comforted Paul that he would not 
change his fetters for ITero's purple and 
gems. See 2 Cor. 1 : 5. The early Chris- 
tians, as well as Christians in all the ages 
since, were specially comforted in their 
persecutions by the thought of the second 
coming of Christ, and the glories which are 
to follow. Loyalty to the Master, which 
the Bible creates, will make one think it 
not too much to suffer for him, who suf- 
fered so much for us. " They therefore de- 
parted from the presence of the council, 
rejoicing that they were counted worthy to 
suffer dishonor for the JSTame '' (Acts 
5 : 41). When John Huss was about to be 
burned, and they placed the cap painted 
with demons on his head, he said, ^^ Most 
joyfully will I wear this crown of shame 

1 C. L. Marson, " The Psalms at Work," p. 3. 



208 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE, 



Envy, 
malice 
and 
calumny. 



for thy sake, O Jesus, who for me didst 
wear a crown of thorns.'^ The persecuted 
will find a wreath of glory for their brow 
in such a passage as, " They found a man 
of Cyrene, Simon by name : him they com- 
pelled to go with them, that he might bear 
his cross'' (Matt. 27: 32).^ 

4. There is that in the Scriptures 
which is able to make one bear cheerfully 
uncharitableness in every form, whether it 
be envy, malice, or calumny. There are 
illustrations of the persecution of the right- 
eous in these ways, and their attitude. 
Our Lord was spoken of as a deceiver, blas- 
phemer, wine-bibber, glutton, traitor, and 
demoniac. The manner in which he bore 
his persecutions is given. The fact that 
Jesus predicted persecution is a pledge that 
he knows, feels and supports the perse- 
cuted ; and this is a consolation. " If they 
have called the master of the house Beelze- 
bub, how much more them of his house- 
hold '' (Matt. 10:25). His beatitude 
(Matt. 5:10-12) is our marching song. 

Using Farrar's words, the Bible '' trans- 
forms sorrow into triumph; the crown of 
thorns into a crown of stars; the Cross 
into a glory and a rod of power. It turns 



* J. Hamilton, The Lamp and the Lantern, p. 117. 



COMFORT. 209 

martyrdom into rapture, and malediction 
into a beatitude." 



IV. For the Pelican of the Wilderness. 

1'. Loneliness is the lot of every right- loneliness 
eous man in this world of sin. There is ualex- 
the loneliness of spiritual experience. In pe^^ie^ce. 
the prayerful communion of the spirit with 
God ; in the rapture of the visions of serv- 
ice, near and world-wide, of " the king in 
his beauty " and the " land that reacheth 
afar ; " in the ecstasy of love, there is the 
pain of the incommunicable. The human 
soul, though it might be inexpressibly en- 
tranced by the experiences of an hour on 
an Arctic peak amidst the eternal solitudes, 
would yet be, because it is human, crushed 
by the oppressiveness of the silence never 
disturbed by any warble, and the remote- 
ness never visited by any wing. The place 
where every man finally assumes his re- 
sponsibilities definitely, and determines his 
life purpose, is a wilderness. 

There is the loneliness of those who are Reformers, 
misunderstood and unsupported. The re- 
former's motives are often misinterpreted. 
He has the sense of being forsaken. Others 
lack his enthusiasm, and hesitate to uphold 



210 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

his hands. He has to tread the wine-press 

alone, till his garments are blood-red. 

TJnre- The loneliness of unrequited love is an- 

quited , , , . , 

love hard other condition needing comfort. Mission- 

^ ®^^' aries, ministers, parents, sisters and 
brothers feel it, when they lovingly yearn 
for the salvation of the indifferent; rulers 
feel it, and the servants of the people, when 
their self-sacrifice is recompensed with 
thoughtless and base ingratitude. 

To all such the Bible brings comfort. 
It shows the glory of the life that is lonely 
because uniquely great. The poet, the phi- 
losopher, and the saint have their compen- 
sating joys. It presents the example of 
Jesus, praying alone, struggling alone, en- 
during alone, and triumphing alone; but 
these are only the dark background. The 
real portrait is that of a Victor, waving his 
sword over the prostrate form of a van^ 
quished enemy, and rapturously exclaim- 
ing, " It is finished.'^ 

Away from 2. The Bible provides comfort for 
home. 

those separated from their friends by dis- 
tance, years, and change. What visions of 
early days it brings back to us, when we 
are severed far from home and brothers, 
and the parents we loved dearly lie beneath 
the sod! We are once again surrounding 



COMFORT. 211 

the evening table. The psalm is sung. 
We now find the chapter, and read verse 
by verse in rotation. We smile yet over a 
mispronounced name. The memory gives 
pain in one sense, yet provides more than 
relief in the sense of sweet companionship. 
It carries us away to some of the dearest 
scenes and friends of time.-*- 

What a comfort this book is in bereave- Bereave- 
ment ! When the night closes in on one ^^^ ' 
because the light of his life has been taken 
away, what can he do ? 

In the Scriptures there are instructive 
examples of the way he should act. It 
shows him Aaron with bowed head and 
silent tongue when his two sons were 
stricken with death ; the woman of Shunem 
answering Gehazi's question, ^' Is it well 
with the child ? '^ with the words " It is 
well," though her heart was breaking, be- 
cause her son, at the time, was lying in an 
upper chamber dead; and Ezekiel in his 
sorrow, submissive and still. 

In that dark hour the touch of a friend's 
elbow is a God-sent support, but it cannot 
fully cure. Through the Bible the greatest 
consolation comes. It speaks of a kind 

* See R. E. Prothero, The Psalms in Human Life, pp. 4, 5. 



212 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

purpose, continued existence, resurrection, 
reunion, and glory. 

'* Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; 
blessed be the name of Jehovah " (Job 1 : 21). 

** In my Father's house are many mansions; if it 
were not so, I would have told you ; for I go to pre- 
pare a place for you " (John 14 : 2). 

*' lam the resurrection, and the life: he that be- 
lieveth on me, though he die, yet shall he live ; and 
whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never 
die " (John 11 : 25, 26). 

** These that are arrayed in the white robes, who 
are they, and whence came they ? . . . These are 
they that come out of the great tribulation, and they 
washed their robes, and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the 
throne of God ; and they serve him day and night in 
his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall 
spread his tabernacle over them. They shall hunger 
no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the 
sun strike upon them, nor any heat : for the Lamb 
that is in the midst of the throne shall be their 
shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of 
waters of life : and God shall wipe away every tear 
from their eyes" (Rev. 7:13-17). 

V. When the Arm of Flesh Faileth. 

Sickness. 1. In the time of physical weakness, 

when human power comes face to face with 
its own weakness and insufficiency; when 
the best food cannot tempt the palate ; when 
the best air cannot conjure into health the 
wasting lungs, what can comfort ? Is there 



COMFORT. 213 

any effectual antidote for the bitter in- 
gredient of the cup of physical suffering? 
Is there anything to assuage the misery 
when the tramp of the foot of death is 
audible ? It cannot be found in the latest 
volume of essays, history or fiction. It can 
be found in the Bible. The experiences of 
the faithful which it records implant new 
vigor, " My flesh and my heart f aileth ; 
But God is the strength of my heart and 
my portion forever" (Ps. 73:26). The 
promise, " Jehovah will support him upon 
the couch of languishing: Thou makest all 
his bed in his sickness" (Ps. 41:3), is 
encouraging. Such a Psalm as the hun- 
dred and twenty-first sends strength and 
peace into the troubled heart.^ 

2. In many experiences all through Death. 
life men need comfort, but above all when 
life on earth is closing, and they are mov- 
ing down into the lampless valley. Then 
it is that the Bible gives supreme consola- 
tion. It affords '' provision for the last 
journey through the wilderness, and pas- 
sage over Jordan." The soft breathings of . 
the psalmist, the gentle words of our 
Saviour, the confident tones of the apostle, 
and the entrancing vision of the apocalyp- 

1 See J. Hamilton, Lamp and Lantern^ pp. 124-126. 



214 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

tic seer steady the feet and clarify the 
sight. The heavenward traveler can see 
One like nnto the Son of man walking by 
his side ; and beyond the swelling flood rise 
the sweet scenes of the ITew Jerusalem, — 
the pearly gates, the crystal river, the tree 
of life, the elders round the throne, and ten 
thousand times ten thousand, dressed in 
robes of white, singing, " Worthy is the 
Lamb that hath been slain to receive the 
power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, 
and honor, and glory, and blessing " (Rev. 
5:12). 

The sting of death is removed by the 
victory which the eternal life bestowed by 
Christ gives. There is an assurance of 
immortality in the records of Enoch and 
Elijah, who did not taste death; and of 
Samuel who though absent was still alive. 
Isaiah teaches that the dead live and are 
interested in the works of those on earth. 
(Isa. 14:9, 10). Daniel in the twelfth 
chapter, and Paul in 1 Cor. 15, affirm im- 
mortality and a resurrection. Identity, 
recognition, memory, reunion, knowledge, 
faith, hope, love, etc., are spoken of. But 
above all comforts is the confidence begot- 
ten by the words of our Master, and the 
truth taught by his own resurrection. 



COMFORT. 215 

John Knox on his death-bed had 1 Cor. 
15 read to him. He also called for John 
17 remarking, " Since there I have cast 
my anchor." He believed that the prayer, 
" Father, I desire that they also whom 
thou hast given me be with me where I am, 
that they may behold my glory " . . . . 
(v. 24), would be answered. Edward 
Irving quoted the twenty-third Psalm in 
Hebrew shortly before he died.^ 

" The Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want. 
He makes me down to lie 
In pastures green : he leadeth me 
The quiet waters by. 

My soul he doth restore again ; 

And me to walk doth make 
Within the paths of righteousness, 

Ev'n for his own Name's sake. 

Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale. 

Yet will I fear none ill ; 
For thou art with me, and thy rod 

And staff me comfort still. 

My table thou hast furnished 

In presence of my foes ; 
My head thou dost with oil anoint, 

And my cup overflows. 

Goodness and mercy all my life 

Shall surely follow me : 
And in God's house for evermore 

My dwelling-place shall be." 

1 Mar son, The Psalms at Work^ p. 33. 



CHAPTER XL 

JESUS CHRIST. 

The Bible has many singularly attract- 
ive features, but the most charming of all 
is Jesus Christ. He is the central figure 
of the Book. It revolves about him. He 
is its theme. Our words cannot do justice 
to the portrait; at the most they can but 
send the reader back to the Scriptures to 
gaze again at our adorable Lord. 

L His Wonderful Personality. 

1. In this matchless life there is the 
picture of man at his best. This is " the 
Son of man/' the chiefest of the race. 
A real There were the unmistakable marks of 

real humanity in him. He had the limi- 
tations, weaknesses and necessities of the 
finite being. He ate, slept, hungered, 
thirsted, and became fatigued.* He got 
knowledge through the brain and senses. 
He disclaimed knowledge of certain facts. 
He was at times disappointed. He was 
216 



man. 



JESUS CHRIST. 217 

dependent on God for strength and growth. 
Communion with the Father in prayer was 
a necessity, and human sympathy was a 
comfort to him. ^' Would ye also go 
away ? '' and ^^ Could ye not watch with me 
one hour ? '' are questions which show a 
need of the touch of the elbow in times of 
loneliness. 

But the limitations were not human im- 
perfections. His manhood was perfect.^ 

In the Gospels we get a glimpse of what Intel- 
Bishop Hendrix calls ^^ insight, farsight power, 
and foresight " at their highest. He under- 
stood what was in man, and was able to set 
it forth clearly, vividly and concisely. He 
knew man in all his relations and duties. 
He had philosophic insight into the nature 
and foundation of the world. He presented 
anew the way of regarding the universe as- 
the utterance of God, his medium of rev- 
elation. He was both original and pro- 
found, in his claim that truth is not a 
merely intellectual thing, but a living thing. 
It is life, and hence makes a moral claim 
on man, and obeyed gives freedom. He 
went beyond all who preceded him, when 
he treated the soul and body as a unit, as 
inseparable parts of self. The body in its 

* See Brooks, The Iiijltience of JesuSt pp. 36 flP, 86 ff, 154 ff, 
219 ff, on Jesus' powers. 



218 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Emotional 
power. 



Will 
power. 



essence is never parted from the soul. It is 
to be redeemed and glorified as well as the 
soul. There is a resurrection for the body 
which is glorious, just as there is a glorious 
immortality for the soul. Our admiration 
is called forth, not only by this wonderful 
depth which is so hard for us to follow, but 
by the remarkable alertness with which 
he forestalled his opponents, exposed 
their fallacies and wrong attitudes, and 
confused them with rapid-fire questions. 
His practical wisdom in providing a way 
to carry on the gospel is marvelous. 

Jesus showed the rarest emotional pow- 
ers. He was most sensitive and responsive 
to the joys and sorrows of life. His revul- 
sion of feelings in the presence of evil, 
and his delight in the good, show per- 
fectly developed moral sensibilities. His 
cheerfulness, optimism and spontaneous 
sympathy reveal the social side rounded 
out. Even the physical side of his life 
shows a perfect harmony with the world 
of joy and pain. 

The symmetry of his powers makes 
him unique among men. The energy of 
his will is no less noticeable than his in- 
tellect and emotions. He had self-assert- 
iveness, resolution, courage, vigor and 



JESUS CHRIST. 



219 



power at their utmost. The inholding 
powers of self-restraint, prudence, caution 
and patience he also possessed in their 
fulness. 

He was a perfect Man; perfect in his He was 
individuality and in his relations; perfect 
in his parts and in his aims. He lived 
above self and race, above conditions and 
time. His humanity was a perfect vehicle 
for the Holy Spirit. 

2. But we gaze in greater wonder be- 
cause the Bible speaks of him as " the Son 
of God." 

There is an instinctive seeking; for a The Old 

Testa- 
Divine Redeemer in the Old Testament. 

Jesus and his apostles claim that he is 

the One the prophets sought. 

In God's address to the serpent, ^^ He 

shall bruise thy head" (Gen. 3:15), 

Adam heard of One coming. Noah heard 

of One that was to " dwell in the tents of 

Shem" (Gen. 9:27). Abraham looked 

forward to One in whom " shall all the 

families of the earth be blessed " (Gen. 

12: 3). Jacob was persuaded that 

*' The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, 
Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, 
Until that he come whose it is, 
And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples 
be" (Gen. 49:10, Syriac Version). 



xnent 
had an 
instinct 
for 
Christ. 



220 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

Moses told Israel, '' Jehovah thy God will 
raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst 
of thee, of thy brethren like unto me ; unto 
him ye shall hearken" (Deut. 18:15). 
To David the promise vras given that God 
v^ould " establish the throne of his king- 
dom forever'^ (2 Sam. 7:13). Isaiah 
looked for a suffering " Servant ; '^ Jere- 
miah, for " the Lord our righteousness ; " 
Ezekiel, for a " Shepherd ; " Daniel, for 
^^ One like unto a son of man ; '' Haggai, 
for " the Desire of all nations ; " Zechariah, 
for " the Branch ; '' and Malachi, for '' the 
messenger.'' 

In the Old Testament, as we have shown 
in Chapter VIII, the personality, suffer- 
ings, teachings, etc., of the Messiah were 
foretold. 
Jesus and Jesus and his apostles claimed that the 

apostles 

claimed whole Old Testament referred to him. 

ment^ ' Upon reading a passage from Isaiah in the 
synagogue at ITazareth, he said, '' To-day 
hath this scripture been fulfilled in your 
ears" (Luke 4:21). Luke records that 
when he walked with the perplexed dis- 
ciples on the Emmaus road that " begin- 
ning from Moses and from all the prophets 
he interpreted to them in all the scriptures 
the things concerning himself (24:27). 



JESUS CHRIST. 221 

On the first visit to the eleven after his 
resurrection, he said, " These are my 
words which I spake unto you .... that 
all things must needs be fulfilled, which 
are written in the law of Moses, and the 
prophets, and the psalms, concerning me '^ 
(Luke 24:44). Matthew and John refer 
often to incidents in the life of Jesus which 
fulfil prophecy. 

Claims for his pre-existence and equal- Pre-exist- 

ence d/iid 

ity with God were also made by himself eqnaUty 
and the apostles. The apostles further af- ^^^^^^ 
firmed that through him all things were 
created. " Before Abraham was bom, I 
am" (John 8:58); ''And now. Father, 
glorify thou me with thine own self with 
the glory which I had with thee before the 
world was'' (John 17:5); ''I and the 
Father are one '' (John 10 : 30) ; '' In the 
beginning was the Word, and the Word was 
with God, and the Word was God " (John 
1:1); "Of whom is Christ as concerning 
the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for 
ever'' (Eom. 9:5); "who is the image 
of the invisible God, the firstborn of all 
creation ; for in him were all things created, 
in the heavens and upon the earth, things 
visible and things invisible, whether 
thrones or dominions or principalities or 



222 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE, 



Titles and 
names. 



All claims 
substan- 
tiated. 



He was 

sinless. 



powers; all things have been created 
through him, and unto him; and he is be- 
fore all things, and in him all things con- 
sist.^' 1 

The titles and names given to him, in 
both the Old and ITew Testaments, give 
an idea of the superhuman character 
attributed to him by the various writers. 
There are no less than eighty of these 
titles and names. More than seventy of 
them cannot be applied to man. 

All claims are substantiated by his life. 
He fulfilled all prophecy. We see in him 
what we worship in God. We can imagine 
no excellence in God that was not in Christ. 
It would be strange if all that was claimed 
for him were not so. 

His birth, works, resurrection and ascen- 
sion have about them the atmosphere of the 
supernatural, but it is a congruous whole, 
for in him there was the miracle of char- 
acter. He was sinless. " My meat is to 
do the will of him that sent me " (John 
4 : 34) ; " I do always the things that are 
pleasing to him " (John 8:29). The 
apostles call him holy, just, pure, spotless 

iSee also Mt. 7:21-23; 10:32, 33; 11:27; 13:40-43; 
16:13-18; 19:27-29; 23:8-10; 25:31-33; 28:16-20; Mk. 
2:5-12 ; 12 : 1-9 ; 13:24-32 ; 14:60-64 ; Lk. 2 : 49 ; John 1 :49-51 ; 
3:13-18; 4:11-12; 5:16-47; 6:25-66; 8:12-59; 9:35-88; 
11 : 22-39 ; 12 : 25-27 ; 13 : 44-50 ; 14 ; 16 : 1-5 ; 20 : 17. 



JESUS CHRIST. 223 

and without guile. " But ye denied the 
Holy and Eighteous One '' (Acts 3 : 14) ; 
" who did no sin, neither was guile found in 
his mouth '' (1 Pet 2:22);" Jesus Christ 
the righteous " (1 John 2:1). The male- 
factor on the cross, the centurion and Judas 
confessed that Jesus was sinless. 

As we look at him we are constrained to 
say with Thomas, " My Lord and my God.'^ 
We do not doubt that all things were made 
and are upheld by him, Atlantic, Rockies, 
moon, sun and stars. We do not wonder 
at the confession of the apostles, martyrs 
and reformers. We have no fear that all 
knees will bow to him, American, African 
and Chinese. We believe in his promise, 
" Lo, I am with you always," and we pray. 

Consistent portrait, consistent in its in- Aeon- 
consistency, but oh, how wonderful ! Har- ^hoie^ 
nack says, " Christ's personality is his thongh 
secret and no psychology can fathom it'' 
The limitations of the finite, the perfection 
of humanity, and the glory of God, all in 
one. The world has stood transfixed be- 
fore this compound picture of the Child in 
the manger, the Man who spake as never 
man spake, and him who hushed the tem- 
pest and bade the boisterous waves of 



224 THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

Galilee be still. And there forever it will 
stand, and while it stands it worships. 

II. His Lovable Character. 
His strong There was not a thorn, not a rou2rh, 

words . . ..,,... - _ 

born of ]utting point m the disposition of Jesus. 

riffhtt^ He was never gruff , never cruel, never un- 
kind, in look or word. It is true that men's 
good demanded that he should tell them 
plainly what they lacked. His eye flashed 
at times with righteous indignation. He 
denounced hypocrisy. But he loved men. 
Those occasions on which he may seem to 
have used harsh words were forced upon 
him by necessity. The language was 
strong, but it was not unkind. We must 
see the look in his face, and hear the tone 
of his voice, to appreciate the spirit of 
love behind all his words. 
Tender- 1. His was a spirit of tenderness. 

How we are drawn to him by the little 
spontaneous touches, the thoughtful and 
graceful acts which show this spirit! It 
dominated his teachings; he had regard 
for men's immaturity, and refused to over- 
load them. It revealed itself in his mira- 
cles; the changing of the water into wine 
was to spare friends the feeling of morti- 
fication. It came out in his ministry 



ness. 



JESUS CHRIST^ 225 

everywhere; he was tender towards the 
doubter; he was kind to the children; he 
pitied the poor; he wept with Mary and 
Martha. It was not crushed out by his 
last agony; in the Garden of Gethsemane 
he gratuitously healed the ear of Malchus ; 
in the judgment-hall he looked on Peter 
with a sad eye; on the cross he affection- 
ately remembered his mother. 

The beauty of the patient spirit that was Patience, 
in him grips us. With what loving pa- 
tience he withstood the unbelief and 
scoffs of his brethren and the men of ITaz- 
areth! He was never hasty towards the 
disciples, dull of understanding. The 
abuse of rude soldiers did not cause him 
to lose self-control. " He was oppressed, 
yet when he was afflicted he opened not his 
mouth ; as a lamb that is led to the slaugh- 
ter, and as a sheep that before its shearers 
is dumb, so he opened not his mouth " (Isa. 
53:7). 

The inexpressible tenderness and pa- Softness 
tience of Jesus are attractive because there strength, 
was not a trace of weakness or cowardice in 
them. They were the expression of the 
highest manliness. A vision of his 
strength will reveal qualities, not only 
lovable in themselves, but which will give 



226 ^^^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

an inexpressible charm to the softer side 
of his nature. 

Fortitude. 2. He was a man of great fortitude. 
With a noble contempt for worldly great- 
ness, he braved the fortunes of a low con- 
dition without a murmur. The incredu- 
lity and reproach of men he endured with- 
out an expression or feeling of bitterness. 
He faced his trial, and suffered all the 
indignities which were heaped upon him, 
without flinching. He went to his death 
serenely, though he had to go alone. Con- 
sidering the exquisite sensitiveness of his 
feelings, no wonder that his fortitude 
holds the world. And it holds the world 
because it was due to the consciousness of 
a life within, which could not be defeated, 
and not to mere Stoic endurance. It was 
the fortitude of goodness. 

Physical See the tender and patient man drive 

moral ^^^ money-ch angers from the temple, un- 
courage. dauntingly reprove sinners to their face, 
boldly go up to Jerusalem to the Passover 
at the risk of his life. There was no fear 
of physical injury in him. ISTor did he 
lack moral courage. At the beginning of 
his ministry with a grand daring he flung 
his moral standard to the breeze, in his 
Sermon on the Mount, and challenged men 



J£:StJS CHRIST. 227 

of every class to it. That standard was 
never lowered. In the presence of the 
great teacher Nicodemus, he refused to 
play with religious shibboleths that might 
please the rabbi. He never made friends 
at the expense of the truth. The sublimity 
of that courage he displayed in his re- 
markable stand against those who in their 
enthusiasm for him would make him 
king; in his life-long refusal to identify 
himself with either the authorities or the 
mob; and in his utter disregard of public 
customs which were inconsistent with 
righteousness. His courage was not fool- 
hardiness nor blind, dogged tenacity; it 
was bom of inflexible loyalty to holiness. 

The world ever comes back to Jesus for The 
fresh inspiration and healing. It sees in ^gpira- 

him the only attitude towards men which *io^ ^^^ 

healing. 
is truly lovable. Out in the hard world of 

conflictj men and women become bitter, 

and hasty, and cruel as they are overlooked, 

misjudged and battered. But ever and 

anon they come to themselves, and open 

their Bibles to the portrait of the Master. 

There he stands, sweet and strong; sweet 

because he was strong, and sweet because 

his strength could afford to be sweet. He 

speaks, and his word is " Peace." 



years. 



^2S 5r!H^ Magnetism of the bible. 

III. His Sufferings and Tragic Death. 

" He was despised, and rejected of men; 
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with 
grief/' wrote Isaiah. This view of Jesus 
makes the world with bowed head, moist- 
ened eyes, and throbbing heart, stand si- 
lently before him. There is in the soul of 
all men enough of the graces of sympathy 
and justice to draw them to contemplate 
this tragic Life with the mingled emotions 
of sadness and indignation. 
Early 1. In his early years Jesus was a suf- 

ferer. When but a child the jealous Herod 
heard about him, and sought his life. 
He had to flee to Egypt and live the life 
of an exile. Though the record bears no 
testimony to the fact^ we are constrained 
to believe that all his years at Nazareth 
were not passed without suffering. Indeed 
we know that his brethren did not sympa- 
thize with him. We may well imagine 
their taunts. We can hear the scoff of the 
neighbors' boys, when the sinless Youth 
refused to join in their evil deeds. There 
can be no doubt that his attitude of non- 
resistance, of turning the other cheek, and 
of going the second mile, won for him 
many an imposition on their part. His 
noble spirit must have been hurt. 



ministry. 



JESUS CHRIST. 229 

2. As he came to undertake his life- Thewii- 

dcinifiss 

work, there came the keen struggle of temp- 
tation. He had to break all cords that 
would draw him, at the expense of moral 
integrity, to the fulfilment of physical de- 
sires, the pandering to popular applause, 
and the winning of worldly power. Here 
too was a painful battle. 

3. These sufferings were largely be- PubHc 
cause of self. When his ministry began, 
and all through it, he suffered because of 
others. The pains which are due to per- 
sonal inconvenience, intellectual difficulties, 
or definite determination of life-work and 
methods, are almost as nothing, when com- 
pared with the pangs which shoot through 
a righteous soul touched by the moral dark- 
ness, the ingratitude, the indifference and 
the wicked persistency in sin, of the world. 
There is no doubt Jesus felt this in a 
measure in his preparatory years, but it 
came upon him in all its stinging awful- 
ness during his three years of public min- 
istry. He came into actual touch with the 
dulness and worldliness of disciples and 
others. Murmurs and complaints, false 
judgments, base ingratitude and crafty 
snares wrung the heart of the Redeemer. 
The world " esteemed him not.'' He never 



230 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Geth- 
semaue. 



wept over his own hardships, but on the 
brow of Olivet one day he wept for the 
sins of Jerusalem. 

4. There is mystery about Gethsemane. 
We may question as to the causes, but we 
cannot doubt the fact of indescribable an- 
guish. He wrestled. His soul was " ex- 
ceeding sorrowful even unto death." " His 
sweat became as it were great drops of 
blood falling down upon the ground.'' 
Who can fathom the enormity of the agony 
of the world's Saviour deciding to die for 
the salvation of the world ? 

5. The blackness and loneliness of the 
arrest, the trial and ^' the sorrowful way ! '' 

Dolorosa, jjjg gQ^} ^^g pierced through by the trait- 
orous act of Judas. '' All the disciples left 
him and fled." " Peter followed him afar 
off/' and then denied him. He " looked 
and there was none to help." He " won- 
dered that there was none to uphold." 
False witnesses testified to the unjust ar- 
raignment. !N*o friend spoke in his favor. 
Alone against the world! Buffeted, 
beaten, spat upon, treated as a madman, 
scourged, crowned with thorns, ridiculed, 
he was finally sentenced. The cross was 
loaded on his shoulder, and out through 



Arrest, 
trial and 
the Via 



JESUS CHRIST. 231 

the streets of the city, and up the hilly 
slopes, he stumbled forward to die. 

6. Then came Calvary. They nailed Calvary, 
his body to the tree. He suffered the long 
drawn-out torturous death of crucifixion. 
Again he was mocked, reviled and scoffed 
at. The soldiers sat down and with 
heartless indifference '' watched him 
there.'' Those who passed by ^' railed 
on him, wagging their heads.'' " And all 
his acquaintance and the women that fol- 
lowed with him from Galilee, stood afar 
off." The storms of dark perdition beat 
against him, and the waves of desolateness 
passed over him. The creature put to 
death his Creator, and the earth which he 
had made became his sepulchre. 

Many men have suffered and died, but Jesus' snf. 
none like Jesus. He was absolutely un- ^orse 
deserving of it. He could feel it as none ^^^ , 
could. And he was so gracious, so un- 
resentful and so forgiving through it all. 
This is why the world weeps as it sees him 
in Gethsemane, at his trial, on the Via 
Dolorosa^ and on the lonely hill. 

But it is not the pathetic alone that His atone- 
holds our interest in the sufferings and draws, 
death of Jesus Christ. We behold in it 
the atonement of God for the sins of the 



232 ^^^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

world. He gave his life " a ransom for 
many/' " He was wounded for our trans- 
gressions, he was bruised for our iniqui- 
ties; the chastisement of our peace was 
upon him; and with his stripes we are 
healed" (Isa. 53 :5), The death that 
sent a shock though the very nerves of 
nature has also thrilled the world of men. 
The consciousness that Jesus Christ has 
redeemed them by his blood has brought 
generation after generation in ever in- 
creasing numbers to bedew their souls by 
gazing at the Sacrifice. 
IV. His Influence. 
The reports of the perfect manhood, the 
divine nature, the attractive disposition 
and the atonement of Jesus Christ would 
have been generally questioned by later ages 
had there not been the influence on the 
disciples which he did have. That influence 
substantiates all the rest. 
T^^men What kind of men were these disciples 

found. to begin with? They were very ordinary 
men, from the toiling class, without 
much influence. Deep insight was not 
conspicuous in them. They were not 
grossly immoral in their outward acts, 
but they were selfish and cowardly. The 
things of sense, the superficial, visible, 



JESUS CHRIST. 233 

audible, tangible world was the only one 
in which they really lived. They had 
heard of God, and in a superstitious way 
feared and obeyed him, but their whole 
life was bound up in this outward world. 
He was in their minds but in no vital 
touch with their lives. Such were these 
men when Jesus met them. 

In after years we meet these same men. Their 
A new conception of the world has taken ^^^^of 
hold of them. God is not far off. He ^^^^ 
is near, controlling the winds and waves; 
in the grass and trees; giving life to the 
birds and beasts and caring for them; 
filling land and sea with life; in man^s 
body, mind and heart; in nations and 
races, lifting up and laying low. God is 
the life of the world. He is no more a 
logical conception, but a Life and a Person 
pervading everything. They touch him 
every moment. They commune with him, 
and he refreshes their souls, and strength- 
ens them. They know he is bringing all 
things on to a grand end, and doing it well ; 
they trust him and are resigned. They 
have caught a vision of the world's mean- 
ing and have fallen into harmony with it. 
It is the expression of God and they are 
expected to express his righteousness. 



234 



THE MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 



Their new 
life. 



Their new 
society. 



These men's personal lives Lave changed 
too. Their lives must have been in accord 
v^ith their teachings since they had such 
wide influence through their teachings, and 
their manner of living must have been v^ell 
knov^n. They teach obedience and filial 
care in the home; faithfulness, kindness 
and impartiality among friends and at 
v^ork; dependence on God and use of his 
Word in temptation; and courage, en- 
durance and unselfishness in suffering. 
No hardship in a righteous cause should be 
shunned. Sin must be crucified. The 
body is the temple of God. The whole life 
must be lived in the ever present con- 
sciousness that man is the channel for the 
life of God which fills the world. 

We discover a new method of social life 
in them too. They feel themselves united 
to God in life. As a consequence they 
feel a union of purpose, and they take it 
to be their duty to bring God's life to light 
in other lives. They are " co-workers with 
God." To carry out this purpose and as a 
result of it a brotherhood, the Christian 
church, comes into existence, the nucleus 
of a clean society on earth. The social 
righteousness, which is in the life of the 
Triune God, is its law. Faith, knowl- 



JESUS CHRIST. 235 

edge, patiencej holiness, brotherly-kind- 
ness and charity are the constant practices. 

A great constraint took possession of the Their new 
lives of these men. The vision which they f^B(nSs. 
saw was overpowering. To them every 
life which lacked it was wasted and lost. 
A great hope laid hold of them too. A 
future loomed up in which they saw God's 
life having free course in every individual 
nation, kindred, and tongue. The glorious 
sight entranced them. Loyalty shot them 
through. They must proclaim it and give 
themselves unsparingly and fearlessly to 
its realization. And we see them do it. 
The little group of men went out from 
Jerusalem, and preached, suffered and 
died. But it was not in vain. Their mes- 
sage and their life enlightened and kindled 
other lives, and upturned the civilization 
of the world. 

It was all because of Jesus Christ. Jesus the 
They felt that he was God. They saw tfonr^' 
his immanence in nature, by the mani- 
festation of his power in wind, wave, 
bread, arm, optic nerve and body. In 
the Resurrection, and for forty days 
after, they saw him use the physical world 
at will. In his holy and self-giving life 
they observed that immanent Presence 



236 ^^^ MAGNETISM OF THE BIBLE. 

attaining its chief purpose. The trans- 
figuration showed the glory of the human 
"body and the grandeur of the future. 
They put these things together and ar- 
rived at their interpretation of the world 
and of human life, conduct and relations. 
The promise of the Holy Spirit and its 
fulfilment assured them that they were 
right in their assumptions. 

And this immanent God was their own 
Jesus. It was their precious and blessed 
Master that wanted to come into their lives 
and come through them and use them. Of 
course they would allow him. If they had 
ten thousand lives they would do the same, 
if only they might be changed into the 
image of that glorious One they walked 
with on the Judean hills. And while life 
lasted they would spare no power, and 
dread no foe, in their effort to lead him 
to the throne of every human life. 

There is in every human life a polarity 
for God. Men want to know the secret of 
his presence. And so long as this feeling 
of need exists the magnetism of the Bible 
will draw men to examine the influence on 
the disciples of him who said, " Lo, I am 
with you always, even unto the end of the 
world,'' — " Jesus Christ the same yester- 
day, and to day, and for ever/' 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Ahriman 43 

Ahura Mazda 43 

Analects, The 46 

Anxiety relieved 200-205 

Architecture, influeDced 25 

Argumentative writings 60 

Arnold, Matthew, quoted.... 14, 188 

Art, influenced 23-26 

Artificial moral systems 126 

Assurance 199 

Atonement 185, 231 

Authors of the Bible, diversities 63 
experts in religion 148, 149 

Bacon quoted 20 

Beecher, H. W., quoted 54 

Bereavement, comfort in 211 

Berry, Geo. R., quoted 122 

Bhagavadgita, The 35 

Biography 58 

Blackstone quoted 30 

Body, teachings concerning the 217 
Books of Bible complementary 

to each other 70 

Brotherhood, of man 130, 234 

unknown in pagan society. . 17 

Browning quoted 182,183 

Buckle quoted 14, 19 

Buddhism 37-42 

Caine, Hall, his obligations to 

the Bible 25 

Calumniated comforted, The. . . 208 

Calvary, sufferings of 231 

Canon, The 55, 56 

Care of God 200 

Carlyle quoted 14 

Character portrayed 61, 108 

Chinese Primer, The 46 

Christianity miraculous 167 

Church, The 141, 234 

Clearness of Scripture 78 

CodeofManu 36 

Comfort 196-215 

Commerce, influenced 27 

Comprehensiveness of the 

Bible 65,79, 130 

Conduct, guided 201 

recreated 190-195 



23T 



PAGE 

Confucianism 46-48 

Congruity of Jesus' portrait 223 

Consistency of Bible teachings . 68 

Courage of Jesus • . 226 

Creation, explains origins 104 

God's glory, aim of . . . 104 

Story poetic 103 

Creed, worthy one made possi- 
ble 190 

Daniel 193 

Davids, Rhys, quoted 39 

Davidson, A. B,, cited Ill 

Death, comfort at 213 

Denunciations of Jesus 224 

De Quincey quoted 30 

Dignity of the Bible 80 

Disciples, as Jesus found them. 232 
their changed life. 233-235 
Distinctions concerning moral- 
ity 121-123 

Diversified unity of the Bible. 54-71 

Divisions, general , . . . . 60, 84 

Doctrine of the Mean, The 46 

Dramatic writings 84 

Economic morality 132 

Education, influenced 19-23 

Emotional power of Jesus 218 

Envy, comfort against 208 

Epics 92 

Equality of Christ with God the 

Father 221 

Essays 91 

Ethics, of Buddhism 40 

Confucianism 47 

Mohammedanism.. 48,49 

Parseeism 44 

progressive 62 

Expert character of teach- 
ings 148-151 

Faith 138,182-187,204 

Farrar quoted 208 

Fear as a motive 179 

Figures of speech 74, 75 

Fivefold structure 83 

Foreshadowings 158 

Forgiveness of God 186 



238 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Forms of great literature 81-99 

Fortitude of Jesus 226 

'*Four Great Truths "of Gau- 
tama 39 

*' Four Stages " of Gautama. ... 40 

Freedom, of God 153, 150 

respected 129 

Fundamental truths 104, 117 

Future, The, in Buddhism 42 

Christianity 142 

Hinduism 36 

Mohammedanism.. 50 

Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, quoted . . 19 

Gautama 34, 38-42 

Gethsemane, sufferings of 230 

God, absent in Buddhism 42 

and sin 114,203 

as seen by the worshipful. . 188 

as Trinity 113 

definition of 52,186 

his atonement 185 

care 200 

forgiveness 186 

grace 184 

invitation 186 

justice 179 

long-suffering 183 

has revealed himself, 111- 

114, 136, 141, 142, 156 

in Confucianism 46-48 

Hinduism 35 

Mohammedanism 49 

Parseeism 43 

not fixed 153,156 

works towards an end 115 

Gospel, in the Old Testament, 

The, 164,165 

narratives not Buddhis- 
tic 88 

Government, influenced 29 

Grace of God 184 

Grea t Learning 46 

Green, J. H., quoted 15 

Guide for conduct 127-134 

Haman 192 

Harris quoted — 17 

Hebrew, extra-biblical writings. 55 
personality ........ 12, 149 

Hendrix, Bishop, quoted 217 

Hessey, Archdeacon, quoted — 125 

Hinduism 32-37 

History, in the Bible 57, 95, 106 

proves value of the 

Bible 21,22 

Holy Spirit, The 113, 173 

Hulsean Lectures, Trench 150 

Humanity of Jesus 216 

Huss, John, quoted 207 

Illustrations of the Bible 74, 

75, 106, 191-195 
Image of God 109 



PAGE 

Immanence of Christ 235 

Immoralities of heroes 120, 123 

Immortality 214 

Imprecations 120, 125 

Individuals, influenced 13 

Inexhaustibility 150 

Influence of, the Bible on the 

world 11-30 

Jesus 227,232-236 

Inspiration 72, 73, 169 

Intellect, Treasures for the. 100-117 

Intellectual power of Jesus 217 

Intensity of the Bible 81, 96 

Invitations of God 186 

Irving, Edward 215 

'' Isms'' 116 

Jackson, Andrew, quoted 30 

Jesus Christ, his character.. 224-227 

example 129 

influence.. 232-236 

oratory 98 

personality . 216-224 
sufferings and 
death... 238-232 

titles 222 

a miracle of godli- 
ness 167 

the miraculous 
preparation for 

him 168 

Joyous spirit of the Bible 78 

Judgment 178 

Justice of God 179 

Karma 39 

Kingdom, prophets' vision of 

the 160 

Kinship with God 146 

Knox, John, quoted 215 

Koran, The 48 

Krishna 34 

Kuenen quoted 38 

Labor, influenced 26 

Lands of the Bible 63 

Languages of the Bible 56 

Law, in the Bible 59 

influenced 29 

Lessing quoted 23 

Life abundant 110 

Light of nature insufficient 127 

Literature, choicest 72-99 

influenced 24 

of early church, 

extra-biblical 55 

of Hebrews, extra- 
biblical 55 

Loneliness, comfort in 209-211 

Long-suffering of God 183 

Love, of Jesus 224 

redemptive power of. . 182-187 
unrequited 210 



INDEX. 



239 



PAGE 

Loyalty 146 

Lyrics 85 

McCurdy, J. F., quoted 122 

Magnanimity 147 

Mahabharata 35 

Mahayana^ The 37 

Malice, comfort against 208 

Man, a social being 110 

deepest experiences of 149 

diverse character of 61 

duties of 130-134 

greatness of 203, 203 

in Hinduism 36 

inequalities of 204 

inspiration and healing of. 227 

made in God's image 109 

need of moral guide for... . 127 

origin of 107 

true character of 108 

unattained possibilities of . 180 

Miracles 166-169 

Misfortune, comfort against. . . . 205 

Mistreatment of the Bible 72, 73 

Mohammedanism 48-50 

Moods of the devout 145-148 

Moral guidance 118-134 

Moral teaching, progress in 62 

Morals, influenced 16-19, 190-195 

Moses, character of 193 

oratory of 97 

Motive power 172-195 

Miiller, F. Max, quoted 32, 51 

Music, influenced 25 

Nations, influenced 15 

Nature, its factors 154 

not fickle 152 

uniformity of 154 

Nehemiah 193 

Nirvana 40 

Obedience 147 

Old Testament, instinct for 

Christ 219 

miracles 169 

prophecy. ... 93, 158-166, 220, 222 

Opposition to the Bible 12 

Oratory 60, 96-99 

Origin of man 107 

the world 92, 104 

Ottley, Principal, quoted 121 

Pagan morality 16 

Painting, influenced 25 

Papal countries behind 21, 22 

Parallelism 82 

Parseeism 42-48 

Pathos 77 

Patience of Jesus 225 

Paul, Epistles of 18, 131 

oratory of 97 

Perfection of Jesus 219, 223 



PAGE 

Persecution made light 206-208 

Personal morality 133 

Personality, Hebrew 12, 149 

of Jesus 216-224 

Philosophy 91, 105 

Poetry 59, 84-91 

Political morality 131 

Power, vital 172-195 

Predictions 166 

Pre-existence of Christ 221 

Problems 93, 114 

Progress, of man 12 

in moral and spiritual teach- 
ings 62 

Prohibitions of the Bible 129 

Promise, The 160 

agent of 161-164 

Prophecy 93, 158-166 

Prophets' insight 159,165 

moral teachings 130 

Protestant countries advanced 21 , 22 

Proverbs 91, 130 

Providence 105 

Psychology 107 

Public ministry of Jesus, suffer- 
ings of the 229 

Puranas, The , 34 

Puritan influence 18 

Purity 77 

Purpose in things 115, 118, 136 

Questions concerning Bible mor- 
ality 118-126 

Rama 34 

Redemption co-operative 139 

Reformers 209 

Religions tested by their books . . 32 

Religious influence 13-15 

Renaissance, The 24 

Renan quoted 196 

Repentance 138, 173-182 

Responsiveness 147 

Rest 148 

Resurrection of the body 212, 214, 218 

Retribution 143 

Revelation Ill 

Reverence 146 

Rewards 143 

Rhapsodies 93, 94 

Righteousness 188-195 

Ruskin quoted 26 

Sacred books, Among the 31-53 

Sanctification 140 

Saul 192 

Saving impulses 144 

Science and the Bible 100-104 

Sculpture, influenced 25 

Self-condemnation 173 

Separation, comfort in 210 

Serenity 147 

Seriousness 77 



240 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Sevenfold structure 83 

Shastras, The 83 

Sickness, comfort in 213 

Sin, accumulative 176 

allowance for 176 

and God 93,114,203 

forgiveness of 186 

in Hinduism 36 

in Parseeism 45 

relief from its weight 197 

sinfulness of 177 

varieties of 143, 173, 174 

Sinlessness of Jesus 222 

Sinners, comfort for 196-199 

described 173, 174,177 

Sins tolerated 119, 121, 122 

Smith, G. A., quoted 29 

Smith, R. Bosworth, quoted. ... 50 

Social morality 130, 131 

Society, influenced 18 

its basis 110, 113 

of Christian lands.. . 18, 234 

of pagan lands 16 

Solomon's oratory 97 

Soul in Hinduism, The 36 

Spirit of the Bible 76 

Spiritual teachings, develop- 
ment of 62 

of Buddhism 41 

of Confucianism 48 

of Mohammedanism... 50 
uniquely expert... 135-151 

Spread of Bible influence 14, 19 

Stagnancy of nations 11 

Strong, A. H., quoted 113 

Style 78 

Subject matter 61, 62, 76 

Sufferings of Jesus 228-231 

Supernaturalism, Reasonable. . 

152-171 

Supremacy of moral teachings. . 
126-129 



TantraSf TJie 35 Zend-Avesta^ The 



PAGE 

Temptation 206 

Tenderness of Jesus 224 

Tennyson quoted 174, 178-180 

Themes 76 

Thought, great objects of 91 

Threefold structure 83 

Times of the Bible 63 

Titles of Jesus Christ 222 

Tolerance towards other relig- 
ions 31, 32 

Trench cited 150 

Trial of Jesus 230 

Trinity, The 113 

Tripitaka, The 37 

Trust 138 

Truthfulness, 66, 67, 79, 149 

Types 158,159 

Uniformity of nature 154 

Unique features 82 

Unity of the Bible 68-70 

Universality 65,79, 130 

Unseen, The 77 

Uprightness, examples of .. . 193-195 

Varieties of Christians 145 

saving impulses. ... 144 

sins 143 

Vedas, The 33 

Via Dolorosa 230 

Wars of extermination 119, 124 

Webster, Daniel, quoted 25, 96 

Wickedness, examples of 192 

Wilderness experience of Jesus 229 

Will power of Jesus 218 

World, The 101-106, 111, 136, 233 

Worship, of the Mohammedans 49 

Parsees 44 

spirit of, imparted.. 188-190 
Wu Ting Fang quoted 23 



IIOV 23 1909 



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